Armand Brahaj

Armand Brahaj

Engineer · Researcher · Entrepreneur

Software engineer turned founder and manager. Founded my first company in 2001, during university. MSc in Communication and Media Engineering (2009), PhD in Information Management (2016). First exit in 2019. I have led teams across fintech, healthtech, and internet infrastructure — and remain easily distracted by cultural and linguistic projects.

Projects & Ventures
Zana Technologies GmbH CTO & Co-Founder

Health-tech company innovating in Conversational AI and AI-driven voice biomarkers, based in Germany.

  • Led strategy and technology development, growing and leading a team of 12
  • Built the Conversational AI Platform and Remote Patient Monitoring Suite
  • Managed a Digital Trial Patient Companion under contract with a pharma partner
  • Led implementations of Zana Health Watch and its mobile companion app
  • Delivered DiCO, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs
  • Coordinated UNISONO, an AI-driven biomarker project under the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Rubicon Sh.a. — PAGO Albania Founder & CEO

Electronic Money Institution licensed by the Central Bank of Albania and MasterCard Principal Member. Consumer-facing product: Pago, a digital banking app.

  • Spearheaded the full EMI licensing process with the Central Bank of Albania
  • Obtained MasterCard Principal Member status
  • Led in-house development of the Core Banking System and the Pago digital app
  • Managed card processor integration for issuing and acquiring
  • Processed over €10M in transactions in the first year of operations
  • Negotiated two financing rounds totalling €1.77M
Host.al Founder

Albania's largest .al domain registrar. Founded as part of the country's early internet infrastructure. Sold in January 2019 with ~40% national market share; repurchased in September 2023 and restored to growth (8–12% yearly domain increase). Currently holding 80% ownership.

Shqiperia.com Founder

One of Albania's most influential web portals, launched in 2001. Among the earliest and most enduring of my projects. Operates under ShqiperiaCom Shpk.

Open Data Albania Ideator

Open Data Albania preserves governmental data and adds structure to public datasets. Planned for 6 months, it extended through multiple funding phases and remains influential across the region. Since 2011, maintained by the Albanian Institute of Science.

MyOffice'AL Co-Founder

Coworking space in Tirana providing workspace, community, and social infrastructure for freelancers and professionals. Opened February 2015.

Tika Studios Albania Investor

Boutique indie game development studio based in Tirana, crafting narrative-driven games rooted in Albanian folklore and visual storytelling. Debut title Carnival of Souls — a stylized roguelike FPS — is available on Steam.

Java Rentals (Seven) Investor

Car rental company in Tirana, founded out of personal frustration with summer availability. The irony: in Year 1, all cars were rented out — and I was still left without one.

New Ventures Shpk Founder

Software development company serving as the Albanian operational arm for Zana Technologies GmbH and incubating personal projects including RealBookers.