{"id":12673,"date":"2023-01-20T14:29:20","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T14:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ukrainianhub.org\/?p=12673"},"modified":"2024-07-08T08:36:39","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T08:36:39","slug":"mosqitter-founder-on-launching-a-startup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ukrainianhub.org\/en\/mosqitter-founder-on-launching-a-startup\/","title":{"rendered":"Anastasia Romanova, founder and CEO of Mosqitter: "There will always be mistakes, but it is better to make them as soon as possible, gain experience and move on""},"content":{"rendered":"
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What can two women's desire to solve a global world problem, popularize a Ukrainian product and protect the environment lead to? Why should you listen to intuition, where to meet David Copperfield and what questions to ask other startups? <\/span>The graduate told us about all this Female Leadership Program from Ukrainian Hub <\/span>and the founder of a unique startup Mosqitter<\/a> Anastasia Romanova.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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With this material, we begin a series of interviews with female founders of successful startups in support of a new educational project Amarelo Azul<\/u><\/b><\/a> from Ukrainian Hub.<\/i><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Mosqitter<\/a><\/b> - a system that allows you to effectively and ecologically fight against mosquitoes. It imitates the breath, heat and smell of a person to attract insects, and then sucks them inside and creates a pest-free zone on the territory with a radius of tens of meters. This unique startup, created by two Ukrainian women, repeatedly participated in the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, received grants from USF, UVCA and CRDF Global, became the winner of Sikorskiy Challenge, IT Arena and Female Leadership Program from Ukrainian Hub. Today, the technology is used in many parts of the world, from India and African countries to Italy and the USA.
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Our startup was born from the desire to direct the engineering potential of Ukraine to solving some global problem. <\/span>I have always had an understanding of this potential and a desire to use it specifically from the hardware side. There are a lot of cool products in the world, but only a few years ago there was a minimum of products made, developed, designed in Ukraine. Now more and more people want to support Ukrainian, but I had such a desire long before the full-scale war.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0<\/span>An idea was needed, and here it arose in Florida in 2018, where I first encountered the problem of mosquito control. <\/span>Before that, I never thought about how dangerous these insects can be. A few years before that, there was a terrible outbreak of the Zika virus, which is carried by mosquitoes. When we began to study this topic, we learned that insects are responsible for the spread of a huge number of diseases that cause about a million deaths every year. We began to think about how Ukrainians can implement a solution to this problem precisely from an engineering point of view. Then my eco-vision was added to this: I was always concerned about the extent to which chemistry harms the environment and people's health. And here there was an opportunity to solve such a global issue ecologically. It turns out that everything that triggered me for a long time was combined in a new product.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0<\/span>We consider the full launch date to be autumn 2019, when we entered the EO Business Incubator with an idea and a prototype. <\/span>However, the path to creating Mosqitter began earlier with the fact that we turned to entomologists at universities, who helped us understand how to effectively and ecologically fight pests. On the other hand, the engineering team joined, they had a background in building products. My role here was rather that of a manager who managed the process of implementing the idea: finding the necessary information, finding the necessary people, setting up the processes so that the project could start working and develop.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0 "I got a kind of practical express course of engineering education"\n<\/span><\/i><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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It was important for me to understand how each component of the startup functions. Of course, it was a "dark forest" in the beginning. <\/span>But now there is an understanding of each process. I got a kind of practical express course of engineering education. I think it's important to understand the details, to have an idea of how and what works, then you can be on the same page with every member of the team. As soon as I began to understand the processes in more detail, we began to move forward faster.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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We call Mosqitter - "Women-Led Startup". <\/span>I am the CEO and founder, my main responsibility is business development, investment attraction and everything related to the company's development strategy. Then we have Olga, SSO. Olya joined at the stage when we began to fully develop Mosqitter as a startup. She and I went to a business incubator together and it turns out that we became co-founders. The two of us are fully involved in everything related to the company's operational development and day-to-day operations. Currently, our team consists of 6 people full-time and another 6 people part-time. Plus, we have a great team of advisors. Among them are those who were with us from the very beginning, inspiring and supporting, and those who joined in the process. Everything related to production was new to us, so the relevant expertise became extremely important and remains so until now.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0"We have a new product in the line - a portable solution, it is with this that we are starting to enter the US market"\n<\/span><\/i><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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When we started, we immediately focused on the American market. <\/span>And the first presentation of Mosqitter took place at CES 2020 in Las Vegas. CES is actually an unreal format, where the world's biggest brands and most advanced technologies are presented. We won a grant and were in the Ukrainian pavilion with the support of UVCA and CRDF Global. Representatives of Google, Meta, top management of incredible companies can come to you there. David Copperfield even came to our stand. After CES, you leave with a very large base of cool contacts, particularly in the American market. But, unfortunately, a pandemic started in two months: our potential American partners in that state of instability were not ready to take on new projects. Of course, this did not stop us. We began to consider other options, decided on the Indian market. We have an Indian partner with whom we work under a license and today we have developed cooperation very well. At the same time, we tested and sold our installation to different parts of the world. We are now planning to start working on the Brazilian market, and have also actively returned to working on the American market. I am now in America. We have a new product in the line - a portable solution, and we are starting to enter the US market with it.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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For me, the first thing that depends on the success of a startup is the team. <\/span>There are actually a lot of ideas, and most of the time they are not unique. They can appear in different places at the same time, and disappear in the same way, but it takes the right team to implement the idea. It is normal for me to work all the time, at any time, but when I see my team, which mostly stays in Ukraine, connecting to calls from the subway, from the bomb shelter, in outerwear, without light... At such moments, I especially clearly understand that thanks to these people we are moving forward!
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Women in startups, women in technology - in recent years, this topic has been advancing a lot, there are many additional opportunities specifically for women, and Ukrainian Hub is a great example of this. <\/span>Time for us Female Leadership Program from UHUB\u00a0<\/span>was a very cool push for development. After the program, we still communicate with many girls, consult, exchange experience.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Despite this, we still have to face a certain unpreparedness for the perception of women in business. This is due to the culture of some countries. Of course, we are not talking about Ukraine, the USA or Europe. However, it is worth noting that these moments are quite rare and insignificant.\n<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0"Women are more empathetic by nature, this is their strength in business"\n<\/span><\/i><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The willingness of women to support each other is also a huge bonus. <\/b>Women are more empathetic by nature, this is their strength in business. It helps a lot in forming the right atmosphere in the team, in establishing connections. And we should also listen to ourselves, because we have intuition. Sometimes it really works. It's true that I don't, but we often call Olga a director on an emotional level. She has a "guy". At the same time, women often lack a "cool head", emotionlessness in decision-making. <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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At the start of your own business, I advise you to move quickly and fail quickly. <\/span>Be tolerant of yourself - there will always be mistakes, and it is better to make them as soon as possible, learn the lesson, gain experience and move on. This will save time and resources.<\/p>

Do not hesitate to ask questions to those who have already gone through a similar path - mentors, advisors, other startups. You can spend a lot of time researching a question that should have been asked by someone with relevant experience. Most of the time, people are open and ready to help.<\/span><\/p>

And I advise you to celebrate even small victories. There are always problems and small achievements on the way. You have to stop to feel every small victory and thank yourself and the team. This gives additional motivation.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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We are still reconfiguring our work because of the war, we had to rebuild some processes, the war affected us quite a lot. <\/span>But the main thing is that everyone became stronger, everyone had the responsibility in their place to do everything possible for the victory of Ukraine, not to stop under any circumstances. The war caught me expecting a second child. And if in another reality after the birth of the baby I would have given myself time to come to my senses, then here I started working on the same day. This is a mobilization of forces. Of course, I look at my team on the subway and think that my problems are trivial. But it is the mobilization of the forces of everyone in their place that helps us bring victory closer!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Did you like the article? Share it!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Mosqitter CEO: What can the desire to solve a global problem, popularize a Ukrainian product and protect the environment lead to? Why should you listen to intuition and what questions should you ask other startups?<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12675,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-novini"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianhub.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianhub.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianhub.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianhub.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianhub.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12673"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianhub.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16038,"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianhub.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12673\/revisions\/16038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianhub.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianhub.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianhub.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianhub.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}