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Private company

ABBYY

Logo: ABBYY, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons4

American digital intelligence company

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.2 It was founded by David Yang.1 Its chief executive is Ulf Persson.1 It employed 500 people in 2023.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1989Founded1
  • Industrysoftware industry1
  • HeadquartersMilpitas1
  • Websitewww.abbyy.com
  • Legal formcorporation1
  • LEI2549008NQ4B1RDBZ99723
  • StatusActive3
  • LEI statusIssued and current3
  • Registered addressC/O UNITED CORPORATE SERVICES, INC., 19901 Dover, United States3
  • Registered withDivision of Corporations, Department of State, 71569773

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ABBYY office in Kyiv, Ukraine
Photo: © ABBYY, see also text "Content on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License" in the bottom of the page, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons6

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.2

Corporate structure

ABBYY sits at the top of its group. 2 entities, 2 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Founded by David Yang in 1989.1

ABBYY began in 1989, when David Yang founded BIT Software company in Moscow. 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). In July 1993, the company released the first version of its ABBYY FineReader text-recognition software.

In 2019, ABBYY acquired TimelinePI, a process mining company, and Marlin Equity Partners became its biggest shareholder in 2021.

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. As of October 2024, ABBYY’s former Russian legal entities are liquidated.

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.

From Wikipedia’s article on ABBYY, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5

Leadership

Who has led ABBYY, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Products and brands

  • optical character recognition
  • process mining

Listed on Wikidata.1

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).

ABBYY FlexiCapture, another AI document processing platform. In 2019, natural language processing technologies were added.

ABBYY Timeline, a platform for business process analysis and task mining.

Read the full text

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

From Wikipedia’s article on ABBYY, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5

Subsidiaries and ownership

Subsidiaries

From Wikidata.1

Employees over time

  • 20235001

Timeline

  1. 1989Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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