Chimera Prime AS

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a partner of Athene Group, an accounting firm with several locations in Norway, Sweden, and Poland. I’m responsible for technical innovations at our organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chimera Prime AS?

We wanted to rebrand after significant growth and a few acquisitions, hoping to define our brand and create a new website. We'd worked with other design companies but didn't develop a strong relationship with any of them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built on our brand, also developing our home web page and blog. In the process, they offered suggestions on how to structure the platforms, which was helpful because this is not my area of expertise.

They created the website from scratch, including our brand assets and new design. Their team was responsible for everything from content creation to programming features. The work took our vision for the look and feel into account, leaving us with a solidified brand to guide future presentations. 

Over the course of the project, we ended up with a monthly retainer with them. Now they’re doing our marketing, setting up advertisements, creating illustrations, and integrating new systems with the site.

What is the team composition?

I was in contact with a project lead. They also had illustrators, designers, and people working on different topics on the website.

How did you come to work with Chimera Prime AS?

We had done a workshop with them several years ago and were impressed with their skills. I got in touch with them and decided to start the project. The relationship already seemed strong.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July–September 2020. We are now continuing to work with them on a monthly retainer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

It was really successful because they have a great process for handling projects. Our teams engaged in helpful discussions that yielded strong end results. We're seeing continuous growth with new leads coming through our website. Their ideas were well-informed and delivered good results in the end.

How did Chimera Prime AS perform from a project management standpoint?

We had great conversations through Slack and Trello Kanban. After they completed a new iteration, we'd have a team call together. Otherwise, we didn’t feel it was necessary to have a lot of meetings.

Their handling of the project enabled our teams to share ideas. Through that comfortable connection, they were able to offer great SEO ideas to us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're fantastic developers, designers, illustrators, and copywriters.

Are there any areas they could improve?

While I was skeptical at some points, all of their ideas worked out well. They're a great team.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Use them. If someone needs a reference, I’d be more than happy to give one.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder & CEO of SportXpert. We are building a platform and model for predicting the outcome of sports events with a focus on soccer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chimera Prime?

We needed design and development done for our application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We presented our vision, and they collaborated with us to make an app that would appeal to modern users. With the team lead, we drew out the picture and then designed everything with the lead UX designer.

From there, the graphic designer did the final design for screens and the entire structure of the app. Once approved, the developers began coding to produce an MVP.
The main focus of the application is to predict the outcome of sports, in order to assist people that like to bet. We want to help them judge the odds.

What is the team composition?

There is the team lead, UX designers, a graphic designer, and developers working with us.

How did you come to work with Chimera Prime?

I heard positive things about them. I approached them, and they showed interest and willingness to learn about betting for the project. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $2 million–$2.5 million DM (approximately $200,000–$250,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around April 2017, and it is still ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

They’re very focused on modern UX design. They analyzed how people used the MVP, how long they spent on each page, number of clicks to reach a certain page, and more, in order to get a clear picture of the communication with the user.

They comprehend the needs of the customer, studying how to best reach them through the product. They took being educated about betting very seriously.

How did Chimera Prime perform from a project management standpoint?

They do a pretty good job. They use micro-modules to put together and cut down on development time. They feel the pressure to finish the project, which none of us thought would take this long. I have learned that the time was necessary, but am still pushing them to finish quickly. They have increased their focus on micro-modules. They are available, and responsive, even on weekends.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They really involve themselves in the project, learning what it’s all about, its goals, and how to deliver the best product to meet the expectations of the users. They started as just developers, but are more like partners to us now.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Speed of development has been an issue, but they’ve worked on it.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you have an application that’s larger and unique in concept, they are the perfect partner. They want to learn and analyze how to best help you create your application.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of nClude, which is the world’s first chain impact company. We look for some of the most intricate challenges people face, particularly in rural parts of Africa, and we help innovate to find solutions for these challenges.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TRINUS?

Our organization uses technology to solve problems in innovative ways, so we needed a flexible partner who was willing to travel to Africa and help us in our mission. We’re developing mobile and web apps so our offices and company ambassadors can gather data that we’ll leverage into solutions.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Chimera Prime built us an integrated data platform. The mobile apps collect data from our users and the web apps let us view statistics and analyze that data. Some of the data that we gathered was highly personal, so the web apps serve as a highly secure storage container.

Most of the coding’s been done in Python, but lately, they’ve been incorporating some newer technologies. I’m not entirely sure what those are, as we’ve given them a lot of independence to choose development plans that are both workable for our user base and that can get us the data we need.

For the first part of the project, we’d send a download link to our hired ambassadors and they’d gain access to a native mobile app. They’d use this to survey local people door to door, collecting data about access to basics like electricity, hot water, and toilets, as well as data about whether or not people were on government assistance. As they saved this data, the app would record a GPS reference point with the address of each person surveyed.

Our second mobile app is a GPS locator that we’re preparing to test with the South African health department. This app will allow paramedics to successfully navigate to locations that were previously unreachable due to lack of address. The foundation for the mapping is provided by Google Maps, but we own the coordinates.

We had an app developer and a backend developer, one of whom also served as our project manager. There was also a third developer who occasionally helped out.

How did you come to work with Chimera Prime?

Our initial investor had been working with them on other app development projects and he recommended them. We met with them and their CEO traveled with us to South Africa to assess the full scope of our project and understand the living conditions of the people we’d be trying to reach. After that, we drew up an agreement for the projects we wanted to develop.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between 1.5–2 million Norwegian Krone ($165,000–$225,000).

What is the status of this engagement?

We began the project in January 2017, and it’s still in progress.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

All the tools they’ve built for me have been extremely effective and I’ve been able to successfully complete this mapping project.

How did Chimera Prime perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done well given our geographic challenges. They’re based in Poland, our main office is in Norway, and our project has been taking place in South Africa, so it can sometimes be difficult to coordinate. Despite this, they’re still highly efficient and have helped us meet our timeline goals. On the ground in Africa, the project is fast-paced and needs urgent updates, so their team’s been available even at nonstandard hours to help us. The responsiveness, enthusiasm, and adaptiveness have been very strong.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re much more flexible than traditional Western European companies, whether it’s with time and deadlines or with payment. There was one month when we couldn’t afford to pay them the standard amount and they worked around it. Now we’re in a better financial position and I really appreciate their patience through the difficult times.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their developers are very talented, but they need someone who’s strong at interpreting the project and translating that vision for the coders. I’m a problem-solver, not a tech person, and sometimes it felt like I was writing an essay to explain what we needed.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ensure that you have an account manager available to you 24/7 and who you feel comfortable approaching to give the developers a nudge if you need your code by a specific deadline, or if there’s an error you need to be fixed. Having a consistent person to interface with leads to a smoother project in the long run.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Penzo AS Norway, a company that trains healthcare workers on violence prevention in the workplace.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chimera Prime?

I needed a partner to build the web platform for my online e-learning tool.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I had the idea and customer base for an e-learning platform but needed a partner to develop the actual product. It’s meant to train employees and give them all the same knowledge and education on what to do when working with violent individuals. Chimera Prime built the platform (which is mobile friendly), working on both the frontend and backend. It follows a lecture style, with a video and a quiz after each lesson. The trainings are short, ranging anywhere from eight seconds to six minutes, including a few self-defense modules. We have plans to make an app version of the e-learning platform soon.

What is the team composition?

The team is about five people.

How did you come to work with Chimera Prime?

They were a referral.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in February 2019, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We haven’t measured much, but they’ve built exactly what we want, so far.

How did Chimera Prime perform from a project management standpoint?

They work hard and have good project management. English is neither of our first languages, so they’ve tried their best to maintain clear communication. They ask good questions to help understand projects tasks.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team is service-oriented and supportive, being patient when we ask questions or request they redo something.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think we should have met in person at an earlier point. It is always important to meet the clients in person.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Track their work and make sure your plans will address real customer needs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Multilot, a cloud-based platform for lotteries and games.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Chimera Prime?

Our team wanted to run lotteries innovatively. We hired Chimera Prime to develop our platform in addition to B2B components and websites. The platform needed a generic architecture that could be certified and comply with industry regulations.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Chimera Prime developed our platform from scratch using a Ruby on Rails backend. Features—which can vary based on locality—include a payment solution, user authentication, and sides for lottery or bingo operators. The frontend is a web app that runs different types of end user experiences, such as mini-games. Depending on the national regulations, hosting is done locally or via cloud providers. In addition, Chimera Prime created corporate designs and implemented them on our website and other assets. The team now serves as our IT partner, overseeing our servers and platform.

What is the team composition?

Krystian (CEO, Chimera Prime Prime) heads development and is also filling a role in our organization as our Norway-based CTO-for-hire. The organization we’ve set up in Norway is a combination of people we’ve hired from Chimera Prime—about 6–7 front- and backend developers—and our own resources.

How did you come to work with Chimera Prime?

Chimera Prime was already our development partner when I joined the company.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $1.5–$2 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2010 and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Chimera Prime has successfully fulfilled the operational functions we needed to obtain technical certification for the lottery license. Throughout our partnership, Chimera Prime has maintained high standards and been a reliable partner. Things are in order with no loose ends.

How did Chimera Prime perform from a project management standpoint?

They are a natural partner and we consider them a part of our team. Since our team didn’t have full mapping for the platform, Chimera Prime worked in sprints to help us select a direction. The team works in agile and documents everything, which keeps the partnership effective despite the geographical and language differences.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Chimera Prime’s quality and cost-effective work are hard to match. The team has an important sense of ownership and dedication—one of our reasons for continuing the collaboration.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We have to outsource game design and other fields because our niche needs don’t always match Chimera Prime’s offerings. But we don’t expect them to provide everything.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

First, clients should understand the overall strategy and agree with Chimera Prime on the big picture. Likewise, make sure Chimera Prime is fully onboarded; they’ll be more efficient that way. There are lower-cost providers, but they won’t deliver the same results. This is not the case with Chimera Prime, but they need the opportunity to understand the business thoroughly.