From the Founder

A Letter From Ilya Shirokov

At Joom, we're building technologies to make global trade more efficient, transparent, and accessible. Global trade is a fascinating and powerful force — it has shaped the rise and fall of empires, driven the spread of religions, and enabled the diffusion of technologies across continents. Today, it remains the largest industry in the world, accounting for more than 60% of global GDP.

It's symbolic that our headquarters is in Portugal — a country that revolutionized global trade five centuries ago by opening sea routes to Asia. We aspire to receive that baton and lead the next revolutionary wave for this industry by applying AI and other cutting-edge technologies.

Global trade is one of the few large industries where technology can still unlock enormous efficiencies. We are pioneering the digital infrastructure for global trade, gathering data and analyzing demand for goods around the world, and matching this demand with supply. We automate complex operations and build user-friendly end-to-end services for both B2C and B2B customers. We possess unique deep domain expertise and collaborate with innovators, professionals, and partners in almost every time zone.

The foundation of our company rests upon our employees, our operating principles, and our entrepreneurial culture. We firmly believe in the following core tenets:

First, everything starts with great people. We strive to build amazing things, and this is only possible if we have amazing people. Therefore, we constantly seek out the best talent and are committed to taking care of our current employees.

Second, we focus on making a significant impact, thinking long-term, and applying a first-principles approach to problem-solving. We operate in a highly complex industry with multiple stakeholders. Only a deep understanding of root causes and a disciplined approach to decision-making will prevent us from taking one step forward and two steps back.

Third, we stay alert and agile. Technology shifts, geopolitical changes, and natural events can reshape our industry overnight. Speed and adaptability are our superpowers.

Finally, extreme collaboration across diverse skills is essential to building comprehensive, end-to-end solutions for our customers.

With these principles as our foundation, we've defined Joom's Core Values. They guide how we work, how we collaborate, and how we serve our customers and partners worldwide. Living these values is key to earning trust, delivering excellence, and building the future of global trade together.

Ilya Shirokov

CEO & Founder, Joom