Cefalo
Cefalo is a Norwegian-owned IT firm (founded 2010) that provides dedicated, full-time external development teams from its wholly-owned Dhaka, Bangladesh subsidiary exclusively to Norwegian clients. The 250-person company serves 45 customers with senior developers across full-stack, mobile, QA, and AI/ML services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersOslo, Norway
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Cefalo does
Cefalo is a Norwegian-owned IT consulting firm founded in 2010 that provides dedicated, full-time external development teams exclusively to Norwegian clients, delivered from its wholly-owned subsidiary, Cefalo Bangladesh Ltd., in Dhaka. The company's core product is the "Cefalo Model": senior full-time developers (frontend, backend, full stack, mobile, QA, and AI/ML) who work exclusively for a single customer as embedded members of that customer's in-house team, with the customer leading daily work while Cefalo handles recruitment, HR, and retention. The company serves 45 active customers across Norwegian startups, scaleups, and enterprises (e.g., KPMG, DN Media Group, Miros, Promineo, Prokom, Asta, Varner), with developer tenures on the same customer team commonly reaching 8-12 years. Cefalo has grown from 7 employees in 2011 to approximately 250 employees in Dhaka, with a small commercial headquarters in Oslo.
Revenue mechanics are subscription/managed-services based: customers pay annual contracts for dedicated developer capacity at billing rates substantially below Norwegian in-house hiring (Cefalo claims "double the development for same cost" versus ~1.3M NOK all-in per Norwegian developer). Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed; recruitment and onboarding carry no separate fee, and Cefalo guarantees a competency match. The go-to-market is a direct enterprise sales motion run by CCO Jens Wahlberg, with a multi-meeting cycle that emphasizes customer references and case studies as trust-building mechanisms. Distribution is single-channel and single-country — all sales targeting Norwegian customers, with production delivered from Bangladesh. Cefalo is founder-owned (no disclosed institutional capital), holds ISO 27001 and Norwegian Transparency Act compliance, and has earned consecutive Great Place to Work certifications at the Bangladesh subsidiary (94% in 2025, 92% in 2026). Recent capability investment has centered on a structured AI training program (70+ developers in the first cohort using Cursor, Claude, GitHub Copilot) and delivery of AI/ML-augmented development teams to clients including Sensa (aquaculture AI data platform) and Bird's Eye (multimodal media search).
Cefalo firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cefalo
- Legal name
- Cefalo AS
- Website
- https://cefalo.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Cefalo is a Norwegian-owned IT firm (founded 2010) that provides dedicated, full-time external development teams from its wholly-owned Dhaka, Bangladesh subsidiary exclusively to Norwegian clients. The 250-person company serves 45 customers with senior developers across full-stack, mobile, QA, and AI/ML services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Cefalo is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Oslo
- HQ country
- Norway
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Cefalo business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Dedicated Development Teams: Long-term contracts for dedicated development teams. Customers pay for full-time developers who work exclusively on their projects. Revenue is recurring as teams are retained for years. Costs begin only when developers start working.
- Recruitment Services: Recruitment and onboarding included in the service at no additional cost. Cefalo guarantees to find developers matching the agreed competency profile or they don't get paid.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Custom team composition based on customer needs |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
Cefalo product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cefalo provides dedicated, full-time external development teams staffed by its wholly-owned subsidiary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, working exclusively for Norwegian clients as integrated members of their in-house engineering teams. Teams cover frontend, backend, full stack, mobile app, QA, and AI/machine learning roles, with Cefalo handling recruitment, HR, retention, and culture while the customer leads the team daily. Engagements are long-term, with developers remaining on the same customer team for 8-12+ years on average.
Product overview
Cefalo is a Norwegian IT consulting company that provides dedicated external development teams from its wholly-owned subsidiary in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The company offers a unified service model where Norwegian companies build their own dedicated teams of senior full-time developers who work exclusively for them and integrate seamlessly into their existing teams. The portfolio includes specialized modules covering frontend development, backend development, full stack development, mobile app development, QA engineering, and AI/machine learning services. Unlike traditional outsourcing, Cefalo's teams are permanent employees who become familiar with client products, culture, and technical choices over long periods, providing continuity and deep domain knowledge.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- External Development Teams (Dedikerte utviklingsteam) Dedicated, full-time senior development teams (frontend, backend, full stack, mobile app, QA, and AI/ML specialists) based in Dhaka, Bangladesh through the wholly-owned subsidiary Cefalo Bangladesh Ltd., working exclusively for Norwegian clients as integrated members of the customer's in-house team. Cefalo handles recruitment, HR, retention, and onboarding while the customer leads the team daily, targeting Norwegian startups, scaleups, and enterprises that need flexible senior development capacity.
Quantifiable outcome
- Developers produce double the development output for same cost vs Norwegian hiring
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Cefalo
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Cefalo technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
AI capability7 records
Feature3 records
Cefalo partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- JAAGO FoundationminorCharitable partnership where Cefalo sponsors education for 30-50 children from slums in Dhaka annually. Supports underprivileged children with schooling.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Cefalo competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Knowit AB: Nordic digital and IT consulting firm with major operations in Norway, delivering custom software development, design, and digital transformation to enterprise clients.
- Netlight AB: Nordic management and IT consulting firm founded in Stockholm with offices across the Nordics. Comparable in serving tech-forward enterprises with senior consultant teams.
- Itera ASA: Nordic IT consulting and software development company with strong presence in Norway. Comparable in serving enterprise clients with custom development teams and cloud/data services.
- EPAM Systems: Large global digital engineering services firm with offshore/nearshore delivery centers in Eastern Europe and Asia, offering dedicated development teams to European clients including the Nordics.
- Ciklum: Global digital engineering services firm with distributed delivery centers and a dedicated-team model serving European and Nordic clients – directly analogous business model to Cefalo.
- Webstep ASA: Norwegian IT consulting firm specializing in software development, with an onshore/offshore delivery model similar to Cefalo's Norwegian-Bangladesh structure. Targets similar mid-market and enterprise Norwegian customers.
- Bouvet ASA: Oslo-listed Norwegian IT consulting and software development firm of similar size, serving Norwegian enterprises and public sector. Highly comparable customer base, geography, and service mix (custom software development, consulting, nearshore/offshore delivery).
Broad incumbents
- Capgemini: Global IT services leader with a significant Norwegian practice, providing custom software development and offshore/nearshore delivery to enterprise and public-sector clients in Norway.
- Tietoevry: Large Nordic IT services conglomerate providing software development, cloud, and digital services to Norwegian and Nordic enterprises. Overlaps with Cefalo's enterprise customer base but with a much broader portfolio.
Emerging players
- BairesDev: Latin America-focused IT services firm with a near-identical business model: dedicated, near-full-time development teams placed with clients. Useful comp for how Cefalo's 'teams feel like own employees' model scales commercially.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Cefalo social profiles
Digital presenceCefalo compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Cefalo financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cefalo leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Cefalo subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Cefalo funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cefalo M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cefalo
What does Cefalo do?
Cefalo provides dedicated, full-time external development teams staffed by its wholly-owned subsidiary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, working exclusively for Norwegian clients as integrated members of their in-house engineering teams. Teams cover frontend, backend, full stack, mobile app, QA, and AI/machine learning roles, with Cefalo handling recruitment, HR, retention, and culture while the customer leads the team daily. Engagements are long-term, with developers remaining on the same customer team for 8-12+ years on average.
Is Cefalo a public or private company?
Cefalo is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Cefalo founded?
Cefalo was founded in 2010. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Cefalo based?
Cefalo is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, in the Europe region.
How does Cefalo make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Dedicated Development Teams are the primary driver. The others are recruitment Services.
Who are Cefalo's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Knowit AB, Netlight AB, Itera ASA, EPAM Systems, Ciklum, Webstep ASA and Bouvet ASA. Broad incumbents are Capgemini and Tietoevry. BairesDev is listed as an emerging player.
Does Cefalo have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cefalo.