Kanban

What Kanban does

Kanban (DBA: KNB_) is a private web development consultancy headquartered in Zagreb, Croatia, founded in 2012. The company provides custom digital product development services spanning the full product lifecycle, including consultation and ideation, frontend/backend/mobile development, IT infrastructure setup, ERP/CRM integrations, and ongoing maintenance and enhancement. Its technology stack is centered on the JavaScript ecosystem, with deep expertise in Node.js for backend services, React and React Native for cross-platform frontend development, and additional capabilities in PHP, Ruby, and Elixir. Backend infrastructure leverages MySQL, Neo4j, Elasticsearch, and Redis, with cloud deployments on AWS and Firebase.

The company operates a B2B professional services model with quote-based project pricing and retainer arrangements for long-term engagements. Its go-to-market is consultative and direct, beginning with a free consultation to understand client needs before proposing engagement structures. Kanban serves both startups and enterprises, with notable multi-year engagements including Atheneum (expert network CRM platform since April 2013), Grand City Property (German real estate tenant apps since December 2016), PaperKarma (consumer mail-management app since May 2017), and 8tracks (music streaming platform). Its client base spans the USA, Germany, and global markets, leveraging time zone arbitrage to deliver 24/7 development cycles.

Kanban is organized as Kanban d.o.o. (Croatia) with 11-50 employees. The company demonstrates execution capability through quantified outcomes including a 66% reduction in AWS operating costs for PaperKarma, OCR accuracy improvement from 25% to over 85%, and zero unplanned downtime for the Atheneum Platform since its 2016 production launch. Its competitive positioning emphasizes long-term partnership models over transactional vendor relationships, with the team functioning as an embedded engineering extension for clients across multiple industries and geographies.

Name

Kanban

Legal name

Kanban d.o.o.

Website

https://knb.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kanban (KNB_) is a Zagreb, Croatia-based private web development consultancy founded in 2012, providing full-lifecycle custom digital product development (consultation, development, maintenance) for startups and enterprises across the USA and Europe using JavaScript-centric technology stacks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Zagreb

HQ country

Croatia

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Consulting and Ideation Services: Initial consultation phase to understand business goals, analyze requirements, and create development roadmap. quoted project basis.
2. Digital Product Development: Full-stack development services including frontend, backend, mobile apps, IT infrastructure, and ERP/CRM integrations. Typically multi-year engagements with project-based or retainer pricing.
3. Maintenance and Enhancement Services: Ongoing product maintenance including infrastructure setup and maintenance, monitoring, support, usage tracking, functional enhancements, and new feature development. Continuous engagement model.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Kanban (KNB_) is a custom software development agency that delivers end-to-end digital product services covering consultation and ideation, front-end and back-end web and mobile application development, IT infrastructure setup, ERP/CRM integrations, and ongoing maintenance and enhancement. Engagements begin with a free consultation, followed by solution design and a multi-year development partnership, with continuous support after product launch.

Product overview

Kanban (KNB_) is a web development consultancy — not a SaaS product company. It does not offer a packaged software product, platform, or subscription service. Instead, it provides custom software development services spanning a full digital product lifecycle: consultation and ideation, digital product development (front-end, backend, mobile, infrastructure, ERP and CRM integrations), and ongoing maintenance and enhancement. The company's 'offerings' are structured as service offerings (not standalone products), organized around project phases: Discovery, Specifications and Planning, UI/UX Design, and Implementation. Projects referenced on the site — such as PaperKarma, Atheneum, GCP (Grand City Property), and 8tracks — are client projects delivered under these service umbrellas, not internal products of Kanban itself.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Consultation and Ideation Initial engagement phase in which Kanban analyzes the client's idea and business goals, captures requirements, and produces a development roadmap. Offered as a free consultation to prospects before any paid engagement, with quoted project-basis pricing for the broader ideation work.
• Digital Product Development Full-stack development service covering front-end, back-end, mobile applications, IT infrastructure setup, and ERP/CRM integrations. Typically structured as multi-year engagements with project-based or retainer pricing, addressing custom web applications, mobile apps (iOS/Android via React Native), and integration with third-party systems.
• Maintenance and Enhancement Post-launch continuous engagement service covering infrastructure setup and maintenance, monitoring, support, usage tracking, functional enhancements, and new feature development. Delivered as a managed services model on an ongoing retainer basis for the duration of the client relationship.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduced AWS infrastructure costs by more than 66% while modernizing PaperKarma's systems
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• MetaDesignminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Creative design partner for GCP Tenant App UI/UX redesign in 2020. MetaDesign handled the creative/design work while KNB_ implemented the designs into the mobile and web applications.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Ciklum: Global digital engineering services company with European heritage offering custom software development at much larger scale; competes for enterprise clients seeking full-lifecycle development partners but at significantly broader scope.
• Eleks: Eastern European software development and consulting company offering full-cycle custom development, legacy modernization, and enterprise integrations; competes for European enterprise clients with similar service portfolio.
• ThoughtWorks: Global technology consultancy specializing in custom software development, digital transformation, and platform modernization for enterprises; competes for similar complex integration and modernization engagements.
• EPAM Systems: Large global IT services company offering custom software development, systems integration, and digital platform engineering; competes for enterprise engagements but operates at vastly different scale and breadth than Kanban.

Direct peers

• BairesDev: Latin America-based nearshore software development company providing custom development teams to US and EU enterprises; competes for similar client profiles through a staff augmentation and dedicated team model.
• Undabot: Croatia-based digital agency offering custom web and mobile development with similar full-stack JavaScript expertise; directly comparable regional peer for European client engagements.
• Netguru: Poland-based custom software development agency with full digital product lifecycle services including consultation, development, and maintenance; competes directly with Kanban for European enterprise clients.
• 415 Agency: Croatia-based digital agency providing web development, mobile app development, and product design services; closely comparable regional peer with similar size and service offering.
• Infinum: Zagreb-based digital product agency offering custom web, mobile, and enterprise software development with similar long-term partnership model and JavaScript-centric stack; direct geographic and service competitor.

Emerging players

• Toptal: Global talent marketplace connecting enterprises with top freelance developers including JavaScript specialists; represents an alternative procurement model that competes with traditional agency partnerships.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/knb.company
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kanban

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kanban