We achieve big things with a small and forward-thinking team
2024 is our 13th year in business
Independent family business
In open source we trust
Environmentally conscious
Mission
Our mission is to serve small and medium enterprises in the eCommerce industry with a comprehensive range of high-quality software development services, including web app development, eCommerce platform customization, and cloud infrastructure.
Small and medium companies, the backbone of most economies, are driven by passion and hard work. With our years of experience and dedication to excellent code, we are committed to helping them overcome their challenges. We dive deep into their software, processes, and organization, asking the right questions to uncover hidden dependencies and connections.
Beautiful things happen when passion for end users' joy meets software craftsmanship.
![Black and white illustration of a kiwi bird on the left, with a long beak pointed downward. On the right, a branch with leaves holds four kiwi fruits. The bird and fruits are detailed with realistic textures.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/kiwihistory.png)
Short history of Kiwee /'kɪwi:/
In 2011, Anna and Tomasz founded a company they had always aspired to work for: an independent entity with streamlined decision-making, where people are not just a part of the process but the heart of it.
Tomasz coined the company name "Kiwee" /'kɪwi:/. Its connotation to nature and positive sound in many languages reflect the company's approach to people and the world.
How do we work?
Kiwee's roots are in Wroclaw, Poland, a vibrant city with twelve islands and over one hundred bridges over the Oder river. In his book Microcosm: Portrait of a Central European City, the historian Norman Davies portrayed Wrocław as a microcosm of Central Europe.
We are a remote-first company—we were so before it was cool.
The culture of openness, inclusivity, and support for personal growth has always attracted forward-thinking engineers, talents from the best universities (Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Université Paris-Saclay), and the representatives of minorities.
![A person with short hair and a black t-shirt stands indoors with arms crossed, smiling at the camera.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/Krzysiek-683x1024.webp)
Asynchronous work
We think the best idea comes when one does activities other than being in the office or sitting in front of the computer screen, like walking, riding a bike, or working early in the morning or afternoon. To give people a chance to work like this, we communicate asynchronously.
Moreover, we ask everybody first to express their thoughts in writing, ask for feedback, and meet when the foundation of the concept is laid.
We think that meetings are toxic—no less than that. Particularly ad hoc, no-agenda, and crowded meetings are inefficient and expensive to the company.
You can read more about how we foster an asynchronous work culture at Kiwee in the Asynchronous Work blip on our Technology Radar.
Deep work
Creative work, such as programming, writing, or conceptualization, happens when a person has a prolonged, uninterrupted time to do so. It's called deep work.
Counterintuitively, an individual expected to deliver high-quality work results on cognitively demanding problems is placed in a busy environment full of instant communication and meetings.
At Kiwee, we implemented an uninterrupted work culture:
- Write first, organize the meeting last.
- Do not expect an immediate answer.
- Block the long focus time slot in your calendar.
- Communicate asynchronously.
You can read more about how we do it in our Technology Radar's Deep work blip.
![A woman is sitting at a desk in an office, smiling at the camera while working on a laptop.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/DSC_2537-1024x768.webp)
![A man in a light blue shirt points to a whiteboard while two men seated in front of him listen attentively.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/20211005_group_brainstorming_04-1-1024x793.webp)
Knowledge sharing
We breed different initiatives to share knowledge with the eCommerce community:
- The Technology Radar is our expert opinion on web application development frameworks, programming languages, methods, and techniques.
- We publish curated expert, deep-dive-into-topic blog posts written by humans, not GenAI.
- We have started and maintained two open-source projects: MOK and ShopwareDevKube, which implement Magento 2 and Shopware 6 on Kubernetes, respectively.
Our relationship with the Clients
There are three pillars of each cooperation with our Clients.
![Two people stand in front of a whiteboard covered with colorful sticky notes.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/IMG_4330-1024x768.webp)
Trust
Action speaks louder than words—our clients have worked with us for years: futalis GmbH has cooperated with us for twelve years, and Melvin and Hamilton SAS for eight years. Norsk Modelljernbane AS has been with us since 2013 and NFC21 GmbH since 2021.
Responsibility
We openly and transparently discuss and plan the budget, the delivery time, and the scope with our clients.
Understanding
Clients come to us not just to buy software development services but to resolve their problems with crafted software solutions. That's why we learned how to listen and ask the right questions. Writing code is just one part of the software development process.
Our leaders
![Portrait photo of Anna Michalina Sawicka.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/ANNA-PHOTO-814x1024-1.png)
ANNA MICHALINA SAWICKA
CEO and co-founder
I'm an entrepreneur with a solid technical background. Half of my heart is devoted to nature, half of it to science.
I firmly believe that entrepreneurs are responsible for driving positive change in the world.
I am an alumnus of the Electronics and Telecommunication Department at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology. I have 20 years of professional experience in the software development industry, including work as a software engineer for Microsoft.
I am a fan of bike expeditions to the bosom of nature.
![Portrait photo of Tomasz Gajewski.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/TOMEK-PHOTO-813x1024-1.png)
TOMASZ GAJEWSKI
CTO and co-founder
I am an experienced leader of software development teams and projects.
I have been programming since childhood and I have over 22 years of professional experience. That includes working for firms such as Idealo or Microsoft.
I have expertise in designing software architecture, translating business objectives into beautiful and efficient software solutions. I have worked on international projects with budgets over 2.5 million €.
I love spending time in nature and mountain biking, and I am an animal lover.
Daily life at Kiwee
![Two woman are working on a laptop during brainstorming session in the office.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/IMG_1312-1024x683.webp)
![A white, fluffy dog stands on a carpeted floor in the office. One ear is perked up while the other flops down.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/IMG_4353-768x1024.webp)
![Two people are discussing in front of a whiteboard covered with diagrams and notes.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/img_0660-1024x768.webp)
![A man in a light blue shirt is pointing at a whiteboard with a marker, explaining a diagram to another person.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/20211005_group_disscusion_09-1024x683.webp)
![A person holding Kiwee flyer during job fairs.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/Copy-of-IMG_2652-1024x683.webp)
![Kiwee team dressed in Kiwee T-shirts at Kiwee booth during job fairs.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/foto_czwartek_038-1-1024x683.webp)
![Black dog lying on the terrace in front of the office.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/Maluch-1.webp)
![A man and a woman are working together at a desk with a laptop. The man, wearing glasses and a navy blue shirt, is leaning over the woman's shoulder. The woman, in a red shirt, is looking intently at the tablet. The desk has mugs, papers, and a window overlooks green foliage.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/IMG_6061-1024x683.webp)
![A woman in a white top points to colorful sticky notes on a large whiteboard, while a man in a black shirt listens, holding a sticky note. Another person in an orange shirt stands in the background.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/IMG_8376-1024x768.webp)
![A woman in a light pink top stands next to a large whiteboard full of colorful sticky notes.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/IMG_8366-1024x768.webp)
![A man sits at a table in a meeting room, looking towards a dog sitting on a chair beside him. In the background, there is a whiteboard with notes and diagrams, and some shelves with books and items.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/DSCPDC_0002_BURST20220401141353451_COVER-1-1024x576.webp)
![A man with a beard and short hair wearing a blue patterned shirt is standing in front of a green moss Kiwee logo.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/IMG_2462-1024x708.webp)
![Two people are seated in an office with laptops on a desk between them. A small dog sits on a red chair nearby.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/IMG_4319-1024x768.webp)
![Two people sitting on chairs in a room with a white wall covered in colorful sticky notes.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/img_0666-1024x768.webp)
![A person with short blond hair and glasses is wearing a dark blue shirt and facing the camera. Next to the person, there is a drawing of a capybara wearing a hat, set against a dark green background with various doodles including symbols and curly brackets.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/adam_post_homepage-1024x665.webp)
![Two women preparing to cut a cake in an office setting. A presentation slide is visible on a screen in the background.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/IMG_1206-1024x683.webp)
![A person with short brown hair takes a selfie during a conference in a well-lit room with chandeliers, red curtains, and rows of black chairs. The person is wearing a black shirt.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/DSC_0970-768x1024.webp)
![A smiling person wearing glasses holds a black dog in their arms inside one of the office rooms.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/DSC_2637-576x1024.webp)
![A woman stands smiling and talking on the phone in front of a "FRENCH TECH" conference sign.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/received_1469424036524983-1024x768.webp)
![Four colorful t-shirts with Kiweezilla designs featuring abstract imagery are laid out on a dark surface. The print includes robotic characters, green grids, and text elements in various bright colors.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/Kiwezilla.webp)
![A white mug with the word "Kiwee" printed on it is placed on a table. A person's blurred arm is seen in the background, along with a pencil and some papers.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/20211005_kiwee_mug_04-1024x731.webp)
![Three people are working at a wooden table with laptops. A woman in the foreground is taking a selfie, while two men are focused on their screens.](https://kiwee.eu/app/uploads/2024/05/DSC_0361-1024x768.webp)