First step towards internationalisation: dotSource grows in terms of revenue as well as employee count and opens an office in Croatia

Jena – For dotSource, 2023 has begun with an international growth spurt. With a new office in Rijeka, Croatia, the digital agency is determined to strengthen its teams even further and enter international markets outside the DACH region. This has primarily been a result of the last twelve months, with the digital agency being able to maintain its successful course with revenue growth of around 30 per cent and an employee count of 520.

In 2022, the economy, the agency market and therefore also dotSource faced several unforeseeable hurdles. In its usual optimistic manner, the digital agency took on these challenges and once again increased its revenue by around 30 per cent. Through its service portfolio covering the entire digital experience landscape, dotSource generated a total of 37 million euros. This led to dotSource placing first in the ranking of owner-run digital agencies in Germany released by the publishing house HighText Verlag.

Largest IT Service Provider in Jena Without Recruitment Issues and with a New International Office

In 2023, dotSource aims to continue its successful HR strategy. The digital agency already has more than 520 employees, 380 of them in Jena, where it is now the biggest employer in the IT industry.

In 2022, the construction of the new dotSource Campus began on the old fire station site in Jena: 10,000 m² of office space, flats, a supermarket and a culture centre are to be built by 2027. »It will be like a small city within the city and become a great new meeting place on the outskirts of the city centre for us – and for all Jena residents,« Christian Otto Grötsch, founder and managing director of dotSource, says, explaining his vision for his largest construction project to date.

In 2022, dotSource also had the expansion of its other offices on the agenda. In Leipzig, Berlin and Dresden, new office space was secured and the respective teams were strengthened. The offices in Saxony showed considerable growth, with 63 per cent in Leipzig and 71 per cent in Dresden.

dotSource has big plans for the new year. In spring, the first international office will be opened in Rijeka, Croatia. With its accession to the Schengen area and its well-developed IT industry, Croatia is a promising location for attracting skilled individuals. Rijeka will not just be a new expansion site – it will also have the same benefits as the German offices, for example a complete infrastructure. With this move, the digital agency is driving the internationalisation of its teams and service portfolio as it enters its 18th business year, aiming to attract more and more clients from European countries outside the DACH region.

Purpose-Driven Organisation – Social Responsibility for 17 Years

As the largest owner-run agency in the country, dotSource has been involved in social causes since being founded in 2006 – not only in the cities where it has offices, but also in the rest of Germany. »To ensure a successful future, the term 'growth' has been redefined for companies these days: it still describes growth in numbers, but now also a growing responsibility towards the environment and society,« Grötsch comments on the current trend towards becoming a purpose-driven organisation – something that dotSource has been pursuing for 17 years.

In 2022, dotSource's contribution to society once again became evident through numerous small and large donations and sponsorships, including a 10,000 euro contribution to the victims of the Ukraine war. The digital agency also expanded its commitment to education and initiated the endowment of a new professorship with a focus on e-commerce and digital business at Friedrich Schiller University Jena. With less stringent coronavirus regulations, internships and workshops for pupils have once again started taking place on site at dotSource. In addition, the successful Online Code Camps will continue to be held during the holidays.