You're reading: Silicon Valley tech company launches R&D in Ukraine

Silicon Valley is coming to the Silicon Steppe.

A U.S. manufacturer of computer data storage products, Violin Memory Inc., is partnering with GlobalLogic, one of the biggest software developers in Ukraine, to launch a research and development center in Ukraine.

Listed on the NYSE as VMEM, Violin Memory plans to hire 50 people to transfer some of its U.S. functions to Ukraine. The two companies unveiled their partnership agreement on Aug. 9.

Speaking in an interview ahead of that announcement, Violin Memory’s chief operating officer, Ebrahim Abbasi, was upbeat about the new project.

“I think I’ve found a gold mine,” Abbasi said. “The fifth most educated country in the world, powerful software development. Yes, Ukraine has its challenges. Who doesn’t? The United States is a superpower in the world and we have our challenges too. Just turn on CNN.”

Violin Memory’s chief operating officer, Ebrahim Abbasi (R), and senior vice president at GlobalLogic Ukraine Igor Byeda give the Kyiv Post a tour around the GlobalLogic Kyiv office.

Violin Memory’s new partner GlobalLogic works with both startups and mature product and service companies in the automotive, finance, media and communications, hi-tech, medical technology and retail industries. It provides full-lifecycle product development services, including design, product engineering and content engineering.

GlobalLogic’s “design experience and complex software engineering skills are a great match for (Violin Memory’s) ambitious requirements,” GlobalLogic’s chief revenue officer, Rajesh Radhakrishnan, said in a statement on Aug. 9.

“Our proven track record of working for some of the world’s largest and most demanding software companies will support Violin Memory’s progressive roadmap.”

Those already appointed to Violin Memory’s Ukraine staff work at their office in GlobalLogic, Kyiv.

Headquartered in San Jose, California, GlobalLogic has offices in India, Argentina, Slovakia, Poland, Croatia and the United States. It has been operating also in Ukraine since 2002, where it currently has four offices in cities around the country and employs roughly 2,700 people.

It will carry out two main functions for its partner Violin Memory: product development and validation. Requirements definition, plus software architecture and design, will remain under Violin Memory’s remit.

“Here, we’ve found a strong technical team that will develop and get us into the market as fast as possible,” Abbasi said. “There’s a financial advantage as well – I won’t deny that.”

Violin Memory went public in September 2013. Its stock was priced at $9, opened at under $8, and dropped from there. A few months after, Violin shook up its management, firing the CEO that took it public, and much of the rest of its top management team left soon afterward.

About a year ago, it installed a new CEO, Kevin DeNuccio, who earlier ran an investment firm and who is probably best known as the CEO who sold a company called Redback Networks to Ericsson for $2.1 billion in 2006. At that point, Violin was trading at under $4 a share.

Today, at less than $3 a share, Violin’s market cap is just under $70 million.

But Abbasi said he expects Violin Memory to see considerable growth over the next two years and that GlobalLogic will be a significant contributor to this.

According to Abbasi, one of the factors that brought the U.S. company to Ukraine was that with current political and economic turbulence, other companies are afraid of taking a risk, and will miss the chance to get the first footholds in Ukraine’s burgeoning tech market.

“But I’m a product of Silicon Valley – risk and passion drive me,” Abbasi said.

“A lot of people told me, ‘Oh, my God! You’re going to Ukraine? Please don’t go. (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is watching,’” Abbasi said.

“But Ukraine truly is building its own Silicon Valley here.”

Kyiv Post staff writer
Denys Krasnikov can be reached at
[email protected]. The Kyiv Post’s IT coverage is sponsored by Beetroot, Ciklum and SoftServe. The content is independent of the donors.