Name: Vitaliy Diatlenko
Age: 29
Education: National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
Profession: Entrepreneur and mathematician; founder and CTO at Uklon
Did you know? Diatlenko could have become a professional soccer player. He went to a sports school and then played for his university team as a midfielder and striker.
Ordering a taxi online in Ukraine is as easy as anywhere else in the world. There are already several smartphone applications and internet-based services available. But just seven years ago, it wasn’t so easy.
That’s when Vitaliy Diatlenko, at the age of 22, came up with his idea to connect taxi drivers and customers through the internet. The resulting service, Diatlenko’s Uklon, recorded its first successful ride when U.S. taxi service startup Uber was still operating in trial mode.
And even now, though not really competing with the rich and famous Uber outside Ukraine, Uklon remains dominant inside the country — using only its own capital.
The Ukrainian taxi market is a tough place to operate. It is plagued by dumping, groundlessly low prices and lax regulation, according to Diatlenko. Conversely, this is exactly what’s needed for innovative breakthroughs, he says.
“It’s a bit chaotic, but this is a good thing for innovations,” Diatlenko told the Kyiv Post, adding that such market conditions give players a lot of freedom.
The Ukrainian internet-based taxi service market is concentrated on Kyiv in terms of client numbers, but Uklon is doing its best to launch in as many of Ukraine’s cities as possible.
Unlike U. S. Uber or Russian Yandex.Taxi, Uklon has not attracted a lot of investment, which means that it has been slower to spread to new cities.
Overall, Uklon today operates in 10 Ukrainian cities and the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. But unlike its larger competitors, the company claims it’s earning money, not losing it.
Diatlenko says he has always believed in the power of the internet and in people with determination. He’s sure his Uklon will continue to be a success.
But nothing would have worked out if he hadn’t fully dedicated himself to the project, and hadn’t had a team that did so as well, he said.
“I’m lucky to have such a team. They have a spark in their eyes,” Diatlenko told the Kyiv Post.
Diatlenko says he’s tempted to work abroad, because of the current economic and political instability in Ukraine. But he says he will stay, because he believes Ukraine can achieve a lot — if it relies on its young talents.
“When I look at Ukraine’s place in various rankings, it makes me sad. But I’m still confident — everything is in our hands,” Diatlenko said.
“I do what I can. But I only work in one sphere. There are actually so many talented people in other Ukrainian industries — they just need to be given freedom and the chance to do what they can do best. Then we — all Ukrainians — will live a better life.”
