Three points of growth of Nykyta Izmaylov

In October, one of the most extraordinary startups of recent years celebrated its three-year anniversary – neobank sportbank. His investor Nykyta Izmaylov managed to succeed in developing his project in the face of incessant force majeure.

First, the country fevered from COVID for two years, then a full-scale war broke out.

However, the bank managed not only to withstand this perfect storm, but also to show growth, and its investor could implement several other large-scale projects, important for the defense and economy of the country.

Point 1 – neobank growing during force majeure

First things first.

sportbank appeared on the market when monobank was firmly established there. It needed its own philosophy and audience.

The bank’s founders found both, drawing a portrait of their customer with the utmost precision. It is an advanced and successful young man for whom sports and a healthy lifestyle are part of the worldview.

A person who values his time and prefers to solve financial problems as conveniently and quickly as possible, in a few clicks on a smartphone. The new bank has become a friendly platform, a community for this target audience.

For three years of its existence, sportbank reached the figure of half a million clients, who made more than 10 million transfers for almost UAH 10 billion.

The level of confidence in the bank is also evidenced by the fact that its clients have opened there 100 thousand savings accounts worth about UAH 100 million and 15 thousand deposits for the same amount.

Moreover, the depository program was opened after the beginning of the war, that is, customers made their deposits at a time of high ‘turbulence’ in the country.

Nykyta Izmaylov predicts that by the end of the year the number of bank customers will be 600,000 people. He shares the secret of success. First, the bet on the team. Whatever happens, the manager must keep the team.

That is why, after the Russian invasion, the sportbank team switched to a remote mode, with all processes optimized for the new conditions. Any employee can connect from any location.

As a result, the backbone of the team was preserved, and the bank worked steadily and smoothly even during the most difficult first weeks of the war.

All the bank’s processes remained uninterrupted from the first day of the Russian invasion: the cards were valid, all transactions performed, limits and client balances available.

Credit limits were not disconnected, the bank did not change rates and fees for customers. At a time when many of the clients had lost income, homes and even loved ones, this approach made it possible not only to maintain the client base, but also to expand it amid the war.

Nykyta Izmaylov recalls that in the first weeks of the war, the bank’s team worked 24/7, realizing that for a country of 40 million people, a situation where a bank with 400,000 clients failed or even shuddered would be a very unpleasant precedent, which could provoke panic and a domino effect. So, stability was assured.

Point 2 –laser shooting galleries for AFU

The entrepreneur argues that during the war, social responsibility of business is critical.

Where state resources are insufficient, business steps in and provides for the current needs of the army through donations or by providing its products for the needs of the army and the internally displaced. Even more important is technological assistance that improves combat capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Hi-tech is not just about weapons and ammunition.

It also concerns training of fighters, which should be safe and effective. Nykyta Izmaylov finances a large-scale project to deploy laser shooting galleries in Ukrainian cities for tactical and shooting training of combatants of the territorial defense.

This is a project of the U-Hero Charitable Foundation, of which Izmaylov is the largest donor.

Installation of such laser shooting galleries is an opportunity to quickly and effectively train Ukrainian fighters and save enormous amounts of money.

The cost of installing such a multimedia platform is EUR 15,000, while munition of grenade launchers alone on a real firing range costs the country EUR 32 million.

Even military personnel with extensive combat experience who have trained in laser shooting galleries admit that the multimedia systems have exceeded their expectations.

According to the soldiers, they provide extremely realistic portrayal of weather conditions, even sound effects, creating the full effect of the presence in combat conditions. Secondly, it is possible to monitor your own learning progress and adjust it if necessary.

And most importantly, shooting galleries can save the lives and health of Ukrainian fighters. It is no secret that training ranges are priority targets for Russian artillery and rocket forces. In shooting galleries, however, warriors can master the same skills, in greater volume and without risk.

Nykyta Izmaylov notes that a personal commendation from Major General Ihor Tantsiur, Commander of the AFU TrO forces, is one of the main awards hanging on the wall in his office. 

Point 3 – know-how for small businesses

If the laser shooting galleries are an aid to the Ukrainian armed forces, the Transenix project, invested by Nykyta Izmaylov, with over $500,000, is an aid to small and medium Ukrainian businesses.

The Transenix solution using Tap on Phone technology is a mobile application in a smartphone with an NFC interface that has all the basic functions of a POS terminal.

There are only five projects that use this technology in Europe, and one of them is Ukrainian. As noted by Izmaylov, it has passed certification of the largest payment systems – VISA and Mastercard.

This project is useful for both businesses and consumers: for entrepreneurs it gives an opportunity to save on the purchase of terminals and scale their business, and their customers get a larger number of selling points where they can pay by card or electronic purse. 

The technology will allow providing an electronic receipt. The client can get it by e-mail or through a QR-code. The technology is simple and convenient: it eliminates operating costs and saves time.

Transenix offers a lot of different bonuses and handy features tailored specifically for a certain type of business. For example, there is a convenient option for cafes and restaurants to accept payments. There are also certain options for courier deliveries, taxis and small hairdressing salons.

In addition, the program provides additional functions that are convenient for the entrepreneur: the history of transactions for a certain period, the history of calculations with the bank, and analytics.

One can control the balance of a current account or a corporate revenue card that can be managed 24/7 via mobile banking.

Business should go beyond business itself, says Nykyta Izmaylov. It should take responsibility and implement projects not only in its own interests, but also in the interests of our country.

The entrepreneur is convinced that this is the only way not only to survive, but also to win in the face of force majeure. Well, it is hard to disagree with that.