Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 16, 2026

ABBYY

ABBYY is an American technology company specializing in Optical character recognition (OCR), AI document processing, and automation, data capture, process mining and optical character recognition (OCR). It was founded in the USSR and operated in Russia for nine years before moving to the United States. Primarily focused on software as a service model, the company serves clients worldwide. ABBYY offers ABBYY FineReader, an OCR computer program.

Last revised
Jul 16, 2026
Read time
≈ 3 min
Length
767 w
Citations
24
Source
Wikipedia ↗
ABBYY
TypePrivate
Founded1989
FounderDavid Yang1
Headquarters
Austin, Texas
,
United States
Area served
Worldwide
Number of employees
500 (2023) Edit this on Wikidata
Websiteabbyy.com

ABBYY is an American technology company specializing in Optical character recognition (OCR), AI document processing, and automation,2 data capture, process mining and optical character recognition (OCR).345 It was founded in the USSR and operated in Russia for nine years before moving to the United States. Primarily focused on software as a service model, the company serves clients worldwide.6 ABBYY offers ABBYY FineReader, an OCR computer program.

History

ABBYY began in 1989, when David Yang founded BIT Software company in Moscow.7 In the early 1990s, the company introduced optical character recognition (OCR) and since then kept investing in artificial intelligence (AI), natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML).8 In July 1993, the company released the first version of its ABBYY FineReader text-recognition software.9

In 2019, ABBYY acquired TimelinePI, a process mining company, and Marlin Equity Partners became its biggest shareholder in 2021.1011

After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia began in 2022, ABBYY began closing its sales, development, and service provision in Russia and Belarus.12 As of October 2024, ABBYY’s former Russian legal entities are liquidated.13 On 1 October 2024, Radio Liberty reported that, according to accounts from employees, ABBYY employees with Russian citizenship had been dismissed from branches in Serbia, Hungary and Cyprus.14

Offices & management

The company was headquartered in Milpitas, California, with regional offices in 15 countries.15 As of May 2023, ABBYY Group had about 500 employees across 13 countries.16

In September 2024 ABBYY dismissed part of its personnel, including some software developers. In October 2024, the company announced that it would move its headquarters to Austin, Texas,17 but keep the Milpitas office for sales, marketing and operations.18

ABBYY's CEO is Ulf Persson.19

Company products

  • ABBYY FineReader, an application for documents and PDF files, based on ABBYY OCR technology.
  • ABBYY Vantage, a platform for AI document processing (recognition, classification, and data retrieval).2021
  • ABBYY FlexiCapture, another AI document processing platform. In 2019, natural language processing technologies were added.22
  • ABBYY Timeline, a platform for business process analysis and task mining.23

Additional products include NeoML, a cross-platform open-source machine learning library.24

Notes

Notes

  1. "9 Tips To Manage Remote Teams - HR.com".
  2. "AI Giant ABBYY Makes a Power Move: Global Headquarters Shift and Leadership Shakeup". IntentTech. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
  3. "Abbyy releases Vantage 2 and a new skills marketplace". SearchEnterpriseAI. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  4. "Marlin bets big on Abbyy's digital intelligence initiatives". VentureBeat. May 15, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  5. "How to inject Intelligent Document Processing into SAP RPA | IDM Magazine". idm.net.au. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  6. "ABBYY USA Software House Inc - Company Profile and News". Bloomberg Markets. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  7. Blinnikova, Natalia (July 4, 2018). "ABBYY Founder David Yang on AI, Building a Business and the Meaning of Life". news.itmo.ru (in Russian). Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  8. "History of Intelligent Automation and ABBYY Innovations (Infographic)" (PDF). ABBYY. 2023. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  9. "Вектор модернизации: обзор обновленного ABBYY FineReader 12". 3DNews - Daily Digital Digest (in Russian). Retrieved August 27, 2023.
  10. "Marlin bets big on Abbyy's digital intelligence initiatives". VentureBeat. May 15, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  11. "Marlin completes growth equity investment in ABBYY". Marlin Equity. May 19, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  12. "ABBYY is a US-based, privately-owned software company". ABBYY. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  13. "ABBYY has completely withdrawn from the Russian market". Retrieved October 15, 2024.
  14. "The American company ABBYY dismissed employees with Russian citizenship" (in Ukrainian). Radio Liberty. October 1, 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
  15. "ABBYY Corporate Headquarters, Office Locations and Addresses". Craft.co. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  16. "Tech company with big Ai ambitions plants HQ in Austin".
  17. Timothy Malcolm (October 12, 2024). "Top AI-focused tech company moving HQ from California to Texas". Chron. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  18. Jeff Bell (October 13, 2024). "Tech company ABBYY to relocate headquarters to Austin, Texas". kvue.com. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  19. "Ulf Persson, Abbyy USA Software House Inc: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg Markets. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  20. "Abbyy открыла сервис автоматической обработки документов для тех, кто не умеет программировать". CNews.ru (in Russian). Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  21. "Abbyy releases Vantage 2 and a new skills marketplace". TechTarget. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  22. "Abbyy looks to RPA to breathe new life into scanning and workflow". TechCrunch. November 8, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  23. "ABBYY Timeline - Process Mining Software Comparison". Institute of Information Systems. May 12, 2020. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  24. Hainzinger, Brittany. "ABBYY updates machine learning library". App Developer Magazine. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
External links