Rossotrudnichestvo has made a selection of top five business ideas that have become successful not only in their country, but also on the world market. Apps for travellers and shoppers, a language school and a high-tech pizza restaurant of a graduate of Pitirim Sorokin Syktyvkar State University are among them.

Rossotrudnichestvo is the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation. The day before, the Agency has announced a selection of domestic startups that have already become giants of their market at the world level or are just gaining momentum.

Dodo Pizza

The first pizza restaurant was opened in Syktyvkar in 2011 and it didn’t look very technological. Today it is the chain of more than 600 pizza restaurants in 13 countries. Fedor Ovchinnikov, a graduate of the History Department in Pitirim Sorokin Syktyvkar State University, is the founder of the business.

The main difference between “Dodo” and other pizza restaurants consists of stable operation. We have a very strong production system, or more precisely, a management system. It is based on an IT system and this is our strong advantage. The customer always expects to get a certain level of service and food quality that we provide. If we make a mistake, the customer knows that their problem will always be solved. Feedback of a client can easily reach me as a CEO of the corporation. It depends on their level of desire, creativity and perseverance. We have an electronic robot that collects and separates positive and negative comments according to certain criteria. I’ve noticed that people comment differently in various countries. For example, in the USA, customers of “Dodo” leave negative feedback quite rarely. But in Russia it’s the other way around. In some small countries, people are not used to commenting. The British, for example, – Fedor Ovchinnikov commented.

LINGUATRIP

Founded in 2015, the online platform LinguaTrip passed the accelerator 500 Startups and got $100 thousand of investment. Now the platform helps people to find the perfect language course among 2.5 thousand offers.

APP IN THE AIR

This is an app from the Russian developers for travel enthusiasts. It does not only provide information about check-in and boarding times, but also helps you to navigate airports: find out which stores are open in the early morning and where you can charge your phone. The app is used all over the world, but the majority of users are concentrated in the United States and the European Union.

GRABR

Grabr is a simple and convenient way to find travellers around the world who are ready to buy and deliver the necessary items from any country. If you need a soda that is not sold in your city or limited-edition trainers, you can just find a person who can buy the desired product on the way and bring it to you. Users of the app have already received $ 3.5 million worth of goods.

SKYENG

The largest English language school in Europe was founded by four students of Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) and The Bauman Moscow State Technical University (BMSTU) in 2012. Now the company is actively developing and launching new products. For example, Skyeng Math is an online school for children with the mathematics courses. The value of the company in 2020 is $ 130 million.

VERBUM media center based on Rossotrudnichestvo materials
Photos from open sources