“We want to invest in Ukraine and create jobs here. That’s why I’m happy to announce that Revolut is becoming the first resident of Diia City,” Dmitriy said.

• According to Strelchuk, the company has more than a hundred openings for technical professionals in Ukraine.
• The best employees are promised benefits in the form of options.
• Revolut registered a juridical entity in Ukraine back in September 2021. And since May, the company has been actively recruiting employees in Kyiv. In December 2021, in an interview with AIN.UA, Revolut co-founder Vladyslav Yatsenko said that the company planned to hire at least 100 developers in Ukraine.

• Revolut is a super app in the field of personal and business finance. It has a lot of features and services available. The company is actively growing and has a presence in 36 countries.
• Revolut is the highest valued UK unicorn. In 2021, the company was worth $33 billion.
• The special legal framework for IT companies Diia City launched on February 8, 2022, and the Ministry of Digital Transformation has already started the registration. Check out our article to learn more about the registration procedure:

Why have you decided to open an office here? Because of an attractive business environment, local engineers, or for other reasons (for example, because you come from Ukraine)?

We enter the labor market as an employer and propose better opportunities for the best talents. Our current offer is for experienced software engineers who like to develop a new global super app.

It is an invitation and an opportunity at the same time because Revolut is transforming from an international company to a worldwide business. And people who will do it will have a unique experience. I am proud of the fact that Ukraine has so many developers. They are brilliant specialists and work for us in London, New York, Krakow, and Berlin. And we need more of them.

Nowadays, remote work is a new standard, so we create 100 new jobs for IT professionals to develop our global products from Ukraine too.

Revolut already has a team in Kyiv (partly or fully remote). The company hired new employees in May 2021 and registered a legal entity in Ukraine. Do you plan to run an affiliate or an R&D office here?

Revolut has already employed 20 people in Ukraine who work remotely from Kyiv, Kharkiv, and other cities. Now we offer remote positions, but we also understand that there will be some specialists, e.g., those with small kids, who would like to work in the office.

For that purpose, we will open a co-working space in the center of Kyiv in the middle of December for employees who prefer to work in the office. We registered a company in Ukraine, Revolut Technologies Ukraine, in September 2021 due to legal and taxation reasons.

We want to hire 100 software engineers in Ukraine, so we will need to pay salaries and fulfill some requirements of Ukrainian legislation as an employer.

What is the mission of the Ukrainian office (Ukrainian team)? If you are going to hire more engineers and other specialists, could you share details, please? What tasks will they need to perform?

We’re going to hire 100 engineers in Ukraine by the end of 2022. So we will be ready to discuss more funding and more engagements in Ukraine when we achieve it. We offer competitive wages, and that’s why potential investment would be huge.

Now we are looking only for experienced software engineers. We search engineers with experience in the development of distributed systems (Java, Kotlin, PostgreSQL), mobile (iOS, Android), web (Typescript, react.js), big data (Python), and infrastructure automation (Python) who will become a part of our global product teams.

According to the state registry, you are the chief of the local office. Will you lead the office, or are you looking for a regional general manager? And if you have already found someone, could you say the name?

The Revolut engineers work in distributed international teams. Kyiv engineers can collaborate with engineers in London, Krakow, and Berlin to develop global products. They don’t need a supervisor in Ukraine to organize their work.

What are the terms and bonuses of work for Revolut? Are they also available in Ukraine? Maybe, there are stock options? Any other benefits — remote work, insurance, education, etc.?

We want to employ the Ukrainian software developers by offering them the following growth opportunities: work remotely from any part of Ukraine, an international wage for working from home, a chance to create innovative products for millions of users worldwide, develop the most sophisticated products as a part of international product teams.

Do you plan to launch the financial services of Revolut in Ukraine? When will that be possible?

At the moment, we don’t have any news about launching services for Ukraine.

According to the state register of legal entities, the company is called Revolut Technologies Ukraine LLC (Ukrainian name: ТОВ “РеволютТехнолоджис Юкрейн”), and it was registered on September 8, 2021, in Kyiv. According to the registered address, the company’s office is located at the Horizon Park Business Center. Its director is Vladyslav Yatsenko, and the ultimate beneficiary owner is Revolut Ltd.

AIN.UA has requested a comment on the situation from Revolut’s global office.

In May 2021, the company was actively recruiting employees in Kyiv. The company said that it was indeed recruiting specialists in Ukraine, but mostly for remote work.

The UK company Revolut, co-founded by Ukrainian Vladyslav Yatsenko, is a branchless bank — all card transactions can be done via Revolut’s mobile app. This is a popular international financial service.

One of the main advantages of Revolut is that you can exchange your money with no fee — each customer gets a multicurrency debit card. Now the company offers many different services, ranging from the typical banking services, like card issuing, to more extensive services (e.g., trading).

In May 2021, the company launched a service to transfer money to Ukraine.

Who is the richest in the IT industry

• 8th place in Top 100 richest Ukrainians in 2021 is taken by the co-founder of the UK-based fintech startup Revolut, Vlad Yatsenko. His net worth is estimated by NV at $1.277B. In July of 2021, Revolut raised $800M, and its valuation increased sixfold: from $5.5B in 2020 to $33B.
• 14th spot is occupied by the founder of the aerospace firm Firefly Aerospace, Max Polyakov, with a fortune of about $540M. In May of 2021, Firefly Aerospace raised nearly $200M, and its valuation went way beyond $1B.

According to AIN.UA’s estimates, the ranking takes just one of Polyakov’s assets, Firefly Aerospace, into account. It was valued at more than $1B even before its launch. The worth of his other aerospace companies and all the IT businesses are not factored in.

• 17th place is held by the owner of Rozetka Vladyslav Chechotkin. According to NV, Chechotkin’s net worth is $472M.

The share of Vladyslav Chechotkin is often miscalculated, with the total attributed to Chechotkin alone. But this includes shares of two entrepreneurs, Vladyslav and Iryna Chechotkin, who own the company that the stake in Rozetka belongs to. Thus, according to AIN.UA’s own calculations, the figure of $472M reported by Novoye Vremya is in the range of $359M to $526M but should be attributed to both stakeholders.

• Spots 23, 24, and 25 are taken by Alex Shevchenko, Dmytro Lider, and Max Lytvyn, the co-founders of Grammarly, an online spelling and grammar checker. NV estimates each one’s net worth at $386M.

In calculating the wealth of the co-founders of Grammarly, the valuation of the company at $2.3B should be factored in, as cited by PitchBook and confirmed by the American Forbes magazine. Considering that the latest round took place back in 2019 (the co-founders’ shares have remained the same) and their cumulative share being 76%, the valuation of the fortunes of Alex Shevchenko, Dmytro Lider, and Max Lytvyn, according to AIN.UA, should be about $582M each, which is $196M more than cited by Novoye Vremya.

• The founder and CEO of Ajax Systems, Aleksandr Konotopskyi, is in 26th place, with a net worth of about $380M.
• No. 30 is occupied by one of the co-founders of GitLab company, Dmytro Zaporozhets, with a fortune of approximately $375M. On October 14, 2021, Gitlab went public on Nasdaq. Today its shares are listed on the market at $113.75 per share, and its total capitalization exceeds $15B. Dmytro Zaporozhets owns 2.5% of the firm’s stock, hence his high position in the ranking.
• 37th spot is taken by the founder of People.ai, Oleg Rogynskyy. NV estimates his net worth at $279M. In August of 2021, People.ai raised $100M as part of a new investment round and was valued at $1.1B. As such, the company became a unicorn. Besides, Oleg Rogynskyy has mentioned that, given the current size of the company, it is time to think about an IPO.
• 42nd and 51st positions are held by the co-founders of the IT company SoftServe Taras Kytsmey ($245M) and Yaroslav Lyubinets ($199M). Taras Vervega ($167M), Yuriy Vasylyk ($131M), and Oleh Denys ($130M) are ranked 63rd, 77th, and 78th, respectively.
• 48th place in Top 100 richest Ukrainians in 2021 is taken by the founder and director of Terrasoft company, Katherine Kostereva, with a net worth of $207M, according to NV.

The calculations by AIN.UA show that the value of Katherine Kostereva’s share is significantly lower. At the time of leaving Terrasoft, Alexander Popov owned a 44.75% stake, valued at $51M. Based on the information that he and Kostereva had equal shares, hers should be valued at $51M too, instead of the $207M cited in the NV ranking.

• Oleksandr Kosovan, CEO and founder of MacPaw, is ranked 52nd. His net worth is estimated at $196M.
• Spots 53, 98, 99, and 100 are taken by the co-founders of Fintech Band, the developers of monobank Dmytro Dubilet with $196M, Oleg Gorokhovskyi — $100M, Yevheniya Kryvenko (Yatsenko) — $100M, and Mykhaylo Rogalskiy — $100M.

Who else has made it into the Top 100 richest Ukrainians in 2021

• 22nd place is occupied by the director general and co-owner of Fozzy Group, Volodymyr Kostelman. His fortune is estimated at $388M. Beside him, the ranking also features Roman Chyhir ($175M) and Oleh Sotnykov ($175M), ranked 58th and 59th, respectively. Fozzy Group also has an IT subdivision, and recently, they have tested a service to compete with zakaz.ua.
• The net worth of $346M has earned 32nd place to Stepan Chernovetskyi, head of the investment company Chernovetskyi Investment Group having some IT projects in its portfolio.
• No. 39 and No. 40 are taken by the co-founders of Nova Poshta, Volodymyr Popereshnyuk and Viacheslav Klymov, with a fortune of about $273M each.
• The developer Vasyl Khmelnytsky with a net worth of $223M is ranked 43rd. His main asset is UFuture Investment Group.
• 91st spot is occupied by the owner of the multistore Comfy, Stanislav Ronis. His net worth is estimated at $111M.

The richest five

At the top of the ranking, like in the last year, comes Rinat Akhmetov, whose fortune is valued at $11.5B (to put this into context: last year, Akhmetov’s wealth was estimated at nearly just half as much, $6.6m). The top 5 also include Viktor Pinchuk ($2.6B), Vadym Novynskyi ($2.44B), Petro Poroshenko ($1.52B), and Kostyantyn Zhevago ($1.497B).

• The round was co-led by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and the US hedge fund Tiger Global Management.
• According to Forbes, Yatsenko’s stake in the company after closing the round could be 3.87% and is now valued at about $1.3 billion.
• The fresh funding will be used to develop and enhance products and services, their promotion, and international expansion, with a focus on growth in the US and India.

About Revolut

Revolut is a UK fintech startup launched in 2015 by Ukrainian Vladyslav Yatsenko and Russian Nikolay Storonsky. Its product is a neobank, a type of bank that operates exclusively online without traditional physical branch networks. In 2021, the company has over 16 million clients and 150 million transactions per month.

In May 2021, Revolut launched transfers to Ukraine and started actively recruiting a team in Kyiv. The company told AIN.UA that it is hiring professionals mainly for remote work. You can see the open positions on the official Revolut website.

The screenshot was provided by a user of Revolut

Users can send amounts in dollars, Swiss francs, pounds and other currencies to the cards of Ukrainian banks. The hryvnia is not yet supported. The transfer fee will be from €3 to €5. The money will be transferred to the recipient’s account in 3-5 working days.

According to the instructions in the letter, to make the transfer users need to do the following:

• Enter Payments section, select Send and create a new payment – New. 
• Select Add a bank recipient, and then – Ukraine.
• Add recipient’s full name, account number and BIC / SWIFT code.
• Add a recipient.
• Choose a recipient and enter the transfer amount, then click Continue.
• Check the payment details and then send the payment.

One of the readers of AIN.UA successfully made a payment to the card of a Ukrainian bank and shared a screenshot:

At the same time, the press office of Revolut informed AIN.UA that the service has not yet been fully launched in Ukraine and there is no news about it yet.

• This funding extended Series D round to $580 million, as reported by The Financial Times and several other sources.
• In February, Revolut raised $500 million in a round led by TCV at a $5.5 billion valuation. According to TechCrunch, the valuation of Revolut in this round remains the same, and the investor was TSG Consumer Partners.
• The company will spend the raised funds on the development of new features for service in the U.S. and credit products in Europe.
• Revolut is also working on a subscription management tool. It will allow its customers to see all their active subscriptions, cancel them from Revolut, and receive alerts when the free trial period ends.

Revolut is a branchless bank, and you can perform all transactions via Revolut’s mobile app. It was founded by Russian Nikolay Storonsky (he moved to England and worked in the banking sector) and Ukrainian Vladyslav Yatsenko, who met with Nikolay while working in Credit Suisse.

One of the main advantages of Revolut is that you can exchange your money with no fee, each customer gets a multicurrency debit card. Revolut used to be called a “service for travelers,” but later, the company has significantly expanded the list of its financial features. Now the company has about 12 million registered users.

• Revolut — $500 million
• Preply — $10 million
• Allset — $8.25 million
• DMarket — $6,5 million
• Zakaz.ua — €5 million
• ClassTag — $5 million
• Rentberry — $4.5 million
• 3DLOOK — $1 million
• Astromix — $300,000
• Mriyar — $300,000
• Elision — $150,000
• Propertymate — $120,000 
• Go To-U — $100,000

There were several investments with the undisclosed amount:

• Very Good Security — NDA
• eForce — NDA
• Love&Live — NDA
• Respeecher — NDA
• Skyworker — NDA
• PatentBot — NDA
• Meredot — NDA

• According to the source, the lead investor was the Technology Crossover Ventures fund, which could invest about $150 million. Japanese SoftBank was also interested in investing, but negotiations stopped.
• Revolut has raised funding by selling new shares. It was also planned to be raising $1 billion of extra debt.
• The startup has not yet announced the closing of the deal and is preparing to make an official announcement this week.
• Previously, Revolut raised funds in 2018 when it was evaluated at $1.7 billion. The amount of the deal was $250 million, and the lead investor was Yuri Milner’s DST Global.
• According to the publisher, Revolut has about 10 million customers, however, the company remains loss-making. But this does not prevent investors from competing for the opportunity to buy its shares.

• According to the co-founder of Revolut Nikolay Storonsky, the expansion will depend on obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals in the selected countries.
• Besides Ukraine, the startup plans to launch in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
• In Brazil, Japan, the United States, and Russia, the fintech unicorn may start operating by the end of 2019.
• Revolut also expects to increase the number of employees from 1,500 to 5,000 by the summer of 2020.

What is Revolut?

Revolut is a financial technology service for travelers that works like an online bank. Its feature is that the service removes all payments for currency exchange, so you can transfer, exchange, and spend money around the world without additional fees. In 2018, it became a unicorn valued at $1.7 billion. You can read a brief history of the service here.