HiQ has its sights on becoming the leading technology consulting firm in Northern Europe. Today, the group announces that it is acquiring the integration specialist Abizko Consulting, with offices in Stockholm, Örebro and Malmö. The company will eventually become part of HiQ's Frends. "I am pleased to welcome Abizko Consulting to the HiQ family today, during my first week on the job. We are extremely impressed by how Abizko Consulting has managed to grow in terms of skills and the quality of their services over a relatively short period of time. I'm particularly pleased that our company cultures are such a good match, with employees enjoying time together both at work and outside working hours. We see that different interests connect people at both organizations,” says Samuel Skott, CEO of HiQ.

Abizko Consulting was founded in Stockholm in 2018. The company’s expertise lies in system development, integration and infrastructure based on Microsoft technologies. The idea behind the company is that recruitment and the daily interplay between sales and delivery often can be made more efficient and improved. From the start, Abizko Consulting has succeeded in winning exciting contracts with customers such as Sandvik, KPA Pension, The Swedish Tax Agency, Lantmännen and many more. 

I am extremely proud and pleased to announce today that we are becoming part of HiQ and the fantastic family that it entails. When we were considering which companies we could imagine joining, HiQ topped the list. It is a perfect match. It is also an incredible opportunity for us and allows us to take the next step as a company. It equals even more opportunities for our employees. The value that HiQ provides to them is something that we would not have been able to offer ourselves”, says Krister Skoog, Co-founder of Abizko Consulting.

Since its start in 2018, Abizko Consulting has shown strong growth. The company’s primary focus has been to recruit the best consultants on the market to provide the best quality of service and to enable the company to grow at the speed it has achieved. Abizko Consulting has offices in Stockholm, Örebro and Malmö, and has 18 employees. Initially, it will continue to operate under its own brand, but over time it will become part of HiQ’s Frends.

Frends iPaaS is an integration and automation platform built for the hybrid IT landscape. Frends connects systems and applications that are otherwise separate to ensure that all parts of the business process always have access to the correct information at the right time. The Frends software is supplied as a subscription service, known as an Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS). Abizko Consulting and HiQ’s Frends are a good technical match as Abizko Consulting’s primary focus is Microsoft Azure. In addition, the company is the start of a development team for HiQ’s Frends within the borders of Sweden. 

“I’m very pleased that Abizko Consulting is joining HiQ and Frends. We have been rapidly expanding our business in Sweden. So, adding another 18 great employees to the team, which will complement our development work in Finland, is fantastic. Abizko Consulting’s journey over the past few years has been a success story, and we are looking forward to continuing it together. They excel at integration, so we are delighted to welcome them to the team today,” says Jukka Rautio, Head of Frends & Country Manager at HiQ Finland.

HiQ announces today that the company and Women in Tech Sweden are entering a partnership that extends throughout 2022. The acclaimed organization and tech consulting company will, apart from the yearly Women in Tech conference, organize two events together during 2022. “I am incredibly proud to be able to announce today that we are teaming up with Women in Tech Sweden! For HiQ, it is important that everyone feels welcome in the tech industry. Together with Women in Tech Sweden, we will aim to develop our own work at HiQ and hope to contribute to a more inclusive industry with greater diversity,” says Samuel Skott, CEO of HiQ.

What started as an event on International Women’s Day 2014 has grown into a community, platform, and movement over the years. Women in Tech Sweden is an organization that aims to inspire women to choose a career in media and technology – and get those who are already in the industry to stay. In addition, the organization provides role models, networks, and experience from successful, interesting, and pioneering people from the tech industry. This is executed through an annual conference as well as other events for the network. Women in Tech Sweden is a non-profit organization, and behind the initiative are some of Sweden’s largest and most influential tech companies. Today, the organization has over 14,000 members and welcomes all genders; together is the only way to create a change.

That everyone feels welcome in the tech industry is essential to HiQ. Therefore, HiQ announces today that the company and Women in Tech Sweden are entering a partnership that extends throughout 2022, with the aim to work together with the organization for a more inclusive and diverse tech industry.

“It is extremely gratifying to be able to contribute to a better, smarter and more sustainable society together with HiQ. It is also great to introduce HiQ to our 14,000 members. We look forward to an exciting 2022 and a partnership with one of Sweden’s leading technology consulting companies,” says Elin Eriksson, Director Women in Tech.

The Women in Tech Sweden conference is usually organized around International Women’s Day on March 8 but has been postponed to May 13th, 2022, due to Covid-19. The conference is held at the Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre and is the largest within its segment. The conference #WITswe2022 has the theme Level Up!, and focuses on how we all can take our own and joint responsibility for a better future – something that is in line with HiQ’s vision of simplifying the world with tech.

Samuel Skott is appointed new CEO and President of HiQ. He will lead the company's continued successful development in the Nordic region and Europe. "It feels incredibly inspiring and exciting to become a part of HiQ. I have followed the company’s development from the customer side for many years. There is no other tech consulting firm in the Nordic region that has combined such deep technical know-how with a comprehensive offer in digitization quite so successfully. The demand for the services that HiQ offers has increased rapidly in recent years. It will be an honor to lead such a fantastic organization as HiQ,” says Samuel Skott.

Samuel Skott has a long career behind him at Tele2. Much like HiQ, it’s a company that has challenged industry standards and built a successful organization based on strong values and culture-driven leadership. At Tele2, Samuel has held several leading positions, including CEO of Tele2 Sweden and most recently Chief Commercial Officer responsible for the integration between Tele2 and ComHem. Samuel Skott lives in Stockholm, was born in 1978 and has a MSc. In Industrial Engineering and Management from Linköping University.

“With Samuel Skott as the new CEO and President, HiQ gets a leader who cherishes the corporate culture and adds a strong entrepreneurial mindset. We have found the right person to lead HiQ moving forward, and Samuel’s background and qualities are the perfect match for HiQ. As a result, HiQ can now further sharpen its offering. Samuel has a modern and inclusive leadership style that will play a very significant role in building northern Europe’s leading tech consulting company. He will also continue HiQ’s successful work to simplify the world with tech,” says Magnus Meyer, Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Fredrik Malm, who has held the role of interim CEO since November 2021 and worked at HiQ since 2002, has decided to leave the company as Samuel Skott takes over. John Klint, who took over as acting CFO in November 2021, will take over the role permanently when Fredrik Malm leaves. Fredrik Malm will continue to act as senior advisor to the company.

”I want to thank Fredrik Malm for all his hard work as interim CEO in recent months. Fredrik has done a fantastic job in a short amount of time and contributed tremendously to the organization during this period. Of course also during the 20 years he worked at HiQ in total. I wish him all the best of luck in the future,” says Magnus Meyer, Chairman of the Board of Directors. 

Samuel Skott will take over as CEO and President on March 7th 2022.

“I’m truly looking forward to joining the team and continuing to develop HiQ’s strong offering in digitization, connect with the best skill sets in Europe, and, not least, continue to build on the company’s inclusive and value-driven culture. See you soon,” says Samuel Skott.

Accounting may well be the thing small businesses in all sectors long for the least. HiQ gets the task to create a communicative concept for Acconomy, highlighting how time-saving and straightforward their accounting software is. “We are excited to work with Acconomy on this assignment! They want to make life easier for their customers, which is just in line with what we want to accomplish – to simplify people’s lives through tech, design, and creativity. Congratulations to the team at HiQ on a job well done working on this project and the product itself! This has been an excellent interregional collaboration within HiQ,” says Fredrik Malm, acting CEO of HiQ.

Acconomy view it as their assignment to help their customers reduce errors in the overgrown jungle of accounting – to make it easy to do things right. A team from HiQ has previously worked with Acconomy to develop the accounting software itself. Now, HiQ gets the task to create a communicative concept for Acconomy, with the aim to highlight just how simple and time-saving their accounting software is. 

For many of us, accounting can seem somewhat daunting or even a source of anxiety. HiQ addresses this in the assignment, designing a slogan centered around the concept: “Sweden’s simplest accounting program; still not fun, but at least now it’s simple”. HiQ takes on the role of Acconomy’s marketing department developing a unique concept called Cognitive Bookkeeping Therapy (CBT), a fictitious world in which a group of small-business owners meet to work through their accounting anxiety. HiQ has built all communication and services around this concept.

“It has been great fun to work with HiQ! They have developed something unique that highlights what we consider our mission: to make it easy to do things correctly, preferably without any anxiety along the way. We have received a tremendous response to our campaign,” says Olov Marchal, CEO at Acconomy.

For HiQ, this is a perfect example of Marketing as a Service, and the company is behind a wealth of successful activities for Acconomy. These include a major advertising campaign featuring billboards, 24/7 support and a helpdesk where you can choose between six prerecorded anti-anxiety messages whenever your accounting anxiety gets the better of you. 

“To have HiQ come in and get to grips with our marketing down to the smallest detail is invaluable to us. We are already seeing a large increase in customers and attention,” says Olov Marchal.

Acconomy is Sweden’s simplest accounting software. Acconomy is a sister company of Euro Finans and Prioritet Finans.  

Please visit Acconomy’s social media channels and get to know Carl-Hans, Georgios, Lars, Harriet, Amanda and the rest of the CBT group “I hate bookkeeping”:

Acconomy YouTube
Acconomy Instagram
Acconomy Facebook