For several months now, we've no longer been based "just" in Bern and Basel – through Apps with love d.o.o., we've also established our own presence in Croatia. This move allows us to build on our existing relationships, create new opportunities and lay an important foundation for our long-term development.
In this post, we explain why we chose this path, what connects us to Croatia – and what this step means for our customers.
Apps with love has grown steadily over the past few years – not only in terms of team size, but also in the number of projects and their complexity and diversity. Developing digital products to high standards requires well-coordinated, interdisciplinary teams and sufficient capacity to deliver projects sustainably and with the necessary care.
By establishing an additional location – specifically, our subsidiary in Croatia – we're creating more flexibility to further develop our team in a targeted manner and strengthen the way we work in the long run. The decision to set up an additional office outside Switzerland is part of a long-term strategy aimed at making Apps with love a more resilient, flexible and future-proof organization.
The new location complements and strengthens our existing structures and helps us to remain true to our mission even as we continue to grow: to develop digital products with great attention to detail.
Remote collaboration isn't new to us – it's been part of our daily routine for years.
We have been working with nearshore developers practically since Apps with love was founded in 2010. Initially, this was simply because there weren’t many iOS and Android developers on the Swiss job market at the time. Furthermore, this model enabled us to cope with peaks in workload and access specialist expertise through developers from our partner companies.
It has always been important to us to integrate the developers from our partner companies as closely as possible into our project teams, so they understand our processes and our culture, enabling us to continuously improve how we work together. We visited them at their respective sites, they visited us in Bern and Basel, and they became part of our extended team.
This led to long-term partnerships, and our nearshore team grew to include not only developers with different technical focuses but also QA specialists and staff from other disciplines.
Establishing our own company abroad is therefore the logical next step in our journey – with the added benefit that we can now shape collaboration even more deliberately.
The decision to choose Croatia wasn’t made overnight – it evolved over time. We have been working with Maroje Ljutic (Swiss Digital/NTH Group) on a regular basis ever since our company was founded. What began in 2012 with our first joint project – the game "Madcow" – has grown into a close friendship and a trusted partnership.
Maroje bridges the gap between Switzerland and Croatia: through his network, we have direct access to a broad pool of highly qualified specialists – something we wouldn’t have to the same extent without a local presence. This arrangement also offers a major economic advantage: we can develop complex custom software to Swiss standards – but with a level of cost-efficiency that would be virtually impossible to achieve operating solely from within Switzerland. It is this combination of top talent and an attractive setup that makes the location so valuable for us and our clients.
“The founding of Apps with love d.o.o. is the next logical step in a long-standing partnership. It allows me to contribute and further develop my extensive experience in nearshore setups – including that gained from my previous collaboration with Apps with love.”
Maroje Ljutic, Co-Director Apps with love d.o.o.
In addition, Croatia offers an attractive environment for software development from both an economic and structural perspective. As an EU member, it provides clear legal frameworks – particularly when it comes to employment contracts, social benefits, and cross-border collaboration. At the same time, we benefit from strong cultural alignment, similar communication styles, and the ability to work within the same daily rhythm – which is crucial for project coordination and day-to-day collaboration.
All in all, Croatia offers us the right combination of trust, quality and a reliable structure.
“When working with partner companies, it is vital to have a shared understanding of processes, whether operational, administrative or relating to legal matters and compliance. Setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary of Apps with love AG simplifies many of these processes enormously.”
Martin Mattli, Head of Operations Apps with love AG
In day-to-day business, everything remains as straightforward as ever: your points of contact and processes stay the same. Collaboration continues through the same channels, with the same people, processes, and tools. Our quality standards remain as high as ever, as does our commitment to open communication, transparency, comprehensive advice and a full-service approach.
Our new location in Croatia does not represent a relocation or outsourcing in the traditional sense, but rather a targeted expansion of our capacity and an even better integration of team members who have previously supported us on a project basis. The team in Croatia is an integral part of Apps with love and works directly with our existing teams. This gives us greater flexibility to respond to different project requirements – whether in terms of team composition, timing or specific technological requirements. By simplifying processes relating to compliance, stability and security through our subsidiary, we reduce administrative overheads. This ultimately leaves us with more time to focus on the needs of our clients and – most importantly – the end-users of the products we develop.
As always, working together as equals is important to us: the team in Croatia isn't a mere "delivery unit", that simply processes tickets, but is fully integrated into our interdisciplinary project teams. Our colleagues in Croatia play an active role in shaping solutions and take responsibility for the quality of their work – just as we do in Bern or Basel.
Our Croatian team currently consists of seven staff members working in various disciplines:
Ivan Pavic, Projektmanagement
Matija Premec, Konzept und Design
Monika Sokol, Quality Assurance
Jure Janković, Backend Development .NET
Luka Biskupić, Backend Development PHP/Laravel & Node.js
Marko Gracin, Frontend Web Development
Domen Lisjak, Frontend Web Development
The fact that our official headquarters are located in the baroque town of Varaždin is no coincidence, but a deliberate choice to ensure continuity: this is where the roots of our partnership with NTH AG lie, and where our operational base is situated.
At the same time, we're not limiting ourselves to this: with additional office space in Zagreb, we also have a presence in the capital. Whether at our home base in Varaždin, at the Zagreb hub, or working from home – just like in Switerzland, we work where it makes the most sense for our team and projects.
«Having worked for The Swiss Digital from 2018 to 2021, to then being involved in various projects of Apps with love, to now being part of Apps with love d.o.o. feels a bit like coming home. We’re still a relatively small team in Croatia but excited for what’s to come!»
Marko Gracin, Frontend Web Developer at Apps with love d.o.o.
Even before all seven team members officially signed their contracts in December 2025, we had plenty of opportunities to get to know each other — through visits in Switzerland and Croatia.
The founding of Apps with love d.o.o. is not the end of a project – it's the beginning of a new phase. Our goal is to make Apps with love a more resilient, flexible and sustainable organization.
In practical terms, this means that we'll continue to develop our operations in Croatia organically and with a focus on quality. Our aim is not rapid growth at any cost, but rather finding the best people who are a good fit for us both personally and professionally. The offices in Varaždin and Zagreb are intended to be more than just workplaces: they are spaces for interaction. We are planning regular exchanges and visits, during which Swiss team members will work in Croatia and vice versa – strengthening our “one team” mindset across borders.
We’re excited to take on even more complex projects with this expanded setup – and to continue delivering the expertise and quality our clients expect, now with combined strength from Switzerland and Croatia.
This step marks an important milestone for Apps with love. We warmly invite you to join us on this journey. Do you have any questions about our new location, or would you like to meet our team in Croatia? Feel free to get in touch with us – or pop in for a coffee – in Bern, Basel or now also in Varaždin!
Information about our Croatian office
Apps with love d.o.o
Hallerova aleja 6e
42000 Varaždin
