How Viewdle was created

In the spring of 2006, Yegor Anchishkin worked for a small investment company Techinvest and, at the same time, for one of its portfolio companies, United Software Corporation. When opening a small fund, Technobridge, he received an invitation to the position of investment director of this fund for investing private money. Anchishkin convinced the partners that it would be better to postpone active investments but invest in their startup for now.

"At that time, there were no grounds for rapid investment activity in Ukraine," says an Internet entrepreneur. - They do not exist now because there is no such thing as a high-quality deal flaw - you cannot guarantee a sufficient number of deals with average quality. So I suggested that the partners postpone plans for a couple of years and start a startup instead. The idea and the team of specialists already existed, and the specifics were formed during joint brainstorming sessions. "

In 2006, a landmark transaction for the market: Google acquired the still unprofitable YouTube for $ 1.65 billion. Anchishkin recalls: "This video, in particular on the Internet, is taken for granted, then it was something really new."

The growth of video volumes and the need to systematize it created a niche - intelligent search across vast arrays of videos. Egor showed investors from Technobridge the developments of one of the laboratories in the Cyber Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine - one of the main places where Ukrainian engineers learn. Among these investors was the first CEO of the company, Yuri Fraiman. The team's backbone was made up of laboratory staff and developers hired by Yegor; the scientific leadership was led by the laboratory head and teacher Mikhail Shlesinger. The newly created company received the first round of investments (the entrepreneur does not name the exact amount but says it is about funds up to $ 500 thousand) and began work.

In the spring of 2006, Yegor Anchishkin worked for a small investment company Techinvest and, at the same time, for one of its portfolio companies, United Software Corporation. When opening a small fund, Technobridge, he received an invitation to this fund's position of investment director for investing private money. Anchishkin convinced the partners that it would be better to postpone active investments but invest in their startup for now.

"At that time, there were no grounds for rapid investment activity in Ukraine," says an Internet entrepreneur. - They do not exist now because there is no such thing as a high-quality deal flaw - you cannot guarantee a sufficient number of deals with average quality. So I suggested that the partners postpone plans for a couple of years and start a startup instead. The idea and the team of specialists already existed, and the specifics were formed during joint brainstorming sessions. "

In 2006, a landmark transaction: Google acquired the still unprofitable YouTube for $ 1.65 billion. Anchishkin recalls: "This video, in particular on the Internet, is taken for granted, then it was something new."

The growth of video volumes and the need to systematize it created a niche - intelligent search across vast arrays of videos. Egor showed investors from Technobridge the developments of one of the laboratories in the Cyber Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Among these investors was the first CEO of the company, Yuri Fraiman. The team's backbone was made up of laboratory staff and developers hired by Yegor; the scientific leadership was led by the laboratory head and teacher Mikhail Shlesinger. The newly created company received the first round of investments (the entrepreneur does not name the exact amount but says it is about funds up to $ 500 thousand) and began work.

The company was not profitable; it existed on investments, and the money earned went to R&D, engineers, development, and testing. Several times the project was on the verge of bankruptcy. And yet, by the end of 2009 (Egor was involved in day-to-day activities until December 31, 2009), the company was close to breaking even. The technology has earned recognition: in 2008, the company won the European startup competition LeWeb; in 2010, it was included in the list of 10 startups whose development should be monitored in 2011, according to The Next Web. It also received a second round of $ 10 million in 2010 from Best Buy, Blackberry Partners Fund, and Qualcomm.

Google acquired Viewdle in September 2012. According to experts, the deal amounted to $40-45 million. Google did not announce its plans for a Ukrainian startup after its takeover, but the media managed to find out that the Kyiv office then began preparations for closing.