Load Impact is currently known as one of the premier load testing SaaS companies in the world, but we recently realized that not many people understand the genesis of our logo: The crocodile eye.
Nearly a decade before Ragnar Lonn founded Load Impact, he was already a successful technologist. Among his accomplishments, Ragnar created one of the first consumer IP’s in Sweden and sold it to the telecom company Telenordia.But in between developing progressive IP and load testing technology, plus starting his own gaming studio, Ragnar found another passion — crocodiles.
Ragnar’s first pet crocodile, Bert, lived in his office, and he became an instant hit with all of the company’s visitors. As likely the only croc running around a startup’s office in Stockholm, you could imagine Bert helped Ragnar’s studio make an impression on several people.
Similarly to popular animals like Curious George, Clifford the Big Red Dog and Bugs Bunny, Bert was no stranger to mischief.
Bert loved the warm air that blew from the fans of the company’s desktop computers, and the team only found this out because he would occasionally escape from his pen and set up shop behind the towers on the floor.
While Bert mostly had a friendly demeanor, you can imagine the surprise of one of the developers when he noticed a 91-cm, 10-kg crocodile directly next to their foot under his desk one morning!
Sometime in 2009, Ragnar and his team started a successful software consulting business. Not long after that, the team was contracted by the European Space Agency to build software which could load test satellite links. This project ultimately led to the creation of Load Impact — although only a small part of that original code exists within Load Impact today.
Even though Bert no longer resides in our office (he’s at least 1.3 m long now!), he remains in the company culture as our mascot and inspiration for our logo.
So remember, when you trust Load Impact with your load testing, not only are you getting world-class technology and customer service, but you’re safely under the watchful eye of Bert.
Happy testing!