i4ware Software history from 2000 to April 2026.
2000–2013: (No official company name) Imported rare Planescape AD&D books from the USA to Finland and sold them at a higher price. Wizards of the Coast had discontinued the production of Planescape AD&D (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) role-playing books, and they were available from various private individuals and American antiquarian dealers. With the release of the Planescape Torment PC game, this literature began appearing in the eBay online auction marketplace, and a package that cost €30 could be bid up to as much as €900. Regular income at the beginning consisted of student financial aid. This was essentially buying products cheaply abroad and selling them in Finland at a higher price.
2003: Planning the establishment of a company at Ensimetri in Tampere. It was not yet profitable to establish a company. The unofficial name was Technology Community (website), but no business activities could be conducted because there was no business ID, and the idea was to attend, among others, SW Business Finland seminars in Helsinki using public transport. In the autumn, I started the datanomi degree at Ikaalinen Business School.
2004–2006: Started as an employed entrepreneur through Työvoimapörssi Oy. Delivered i3design Freelance (unofficial employment company) projects including static HTML/CSS websites for Annalin Kenkä store and a website for Pintatyö Terho Tmi. The idea for Timesheet for Jira was born, but Atlassian licenses for Server products were too expensive for a datanomi student’s budget. Atlassian products were used with an Open Source project license for free (no legal permission to produce a Timesheet for Jira Server product).
2006–2009: In the spring, joined Osuuskunta PPT as an owner member and registered the Teknologiaplaneetta auxiliary business name under PPT. Delivered ActionScript programming in the autumn for Mediamaisteri Oy, an e-commerce solution for selling music releases for Aito Records Oy, and for Planeetta Internet Oy’s Tee-se-itse-kotisivut™ homepage builder. Created a few Joomla CMS sites for customers using provided graphics and texts, meaning Joomla theme HTML/CSS composition using Adobe Photoshop CS2. Signed a Solution Partner agreement with Atlassian and performed customization work on Confluence Open Source applications by order for Eduix Oy, which was also an Atlassian Solution Partner (work sold to the client’s end customer).
2007–2014: Studied for a Bachelor of Business Administration (tradenomi) at PIRAMK and later TAMK. TAMK acquired PIRAMK during the studies. In 2010–2011, Matti Kiviharju was on sick leave for 300 days, after which he moved to rehabilitation support.
2012: Release of Timesheet for Jira and Confluence to the Atlassian Marketplace, because Atlassian had launched $10 per year licenses for Server products, so the business idea born in 2004 finally became possible to implement with a student budget.
2009–2013: The name i4ware Software was introduced and Matti Kiviharju began using the Eezy Osk invoicing service. Customers included Glaston Finland Oy, where consultation was provided for Joomla-based Glass Performance Days websites as well as some programming work on an hourly basis. Implementation of the German Polarion Software Requirements Diagramming tool and transfer of the idea’s IPR rights to that company.
2013–2015: Joined Työosuuskunta Innet: Several customer projects and employment with monthly salary at MML-Group, followed by transfer within the group to subsidiary Certitude Oy.
2016–present: Establishment of own i4ware Software sole proprietorship. Atlassian Marketplace partnership continues. Occasional software development contract work for paying customers.
2018: Permanent disability pension and related pension insurance income used as a financial foundation for business operations.
Cumulative turnover 2004–April 2026 from all sources total: €507,657.14
2026: Release of Timesheet for Mouse Free (Runs on Atlassian, which does not need to be hosted on one’s own server unlike Connect apps; these Forge apps are installed directly into Atlassian Jira Cloud, and Atlassian Rovo AI performs customer service and sales in Jira Cloud) and planning of Google AdSense advertising income blogs and F-Secure affiliate business for social media such as YouTube and a forthcoming WordPress blog about cybersecurity. Launch of Satumetsä.AI WordPress site where the OpenAI API creates new children’s stories, with the business idea of earning passive AdSense income as a Google partner based on Revenue Per Mille (RPM), meaning cash flow per thousand impressions in the web blog, where Google auctions advertising slots to the highest bidders.
Matti Kiviharju’s CV: https://mattikiviharju.i4ware.fi/
i4ware Software has evolved from significant hobby activities into a serious software company. The company’s foundation is a diverse skill set and the ability to adapt to changing market conditions.
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