Ukrainian startup Revisior helps businesses «hear» their customers. To do this, it collects feedback and complaints from buyers. Over the past three years of operation, the service has analyzed more than 15 million reviews. Read about this startup in the article.

Recently Revisior made it to the top five finalists of the new Startup Hub project by L'Oréal. CEO and co-founder Serhiy Shapirenko told the MC.today editorial team how the idea for a review collection startup arose, how investments were attracted, and also shared advice for other entrepreneurs.

How the startup idea came about

Before launching the startup I managed an online clothing store for about five years. That is when I understood the importance of service in building a successful business. By collecting feedback we continuously improved our product range and service quality. 

At that time we used various services to manage customer experience. This is why in 2017 we had the idea to create a product that would simplify the process of collecting feedback and improve service quality for small and medium-sized businesses.

I spent 12 years in design. However, when thinking about a startup, I immediately ruled out that niche and e-commerce, because there are already quite a few strong players there and the competition is significant.

We focused all our efforts on the customer service sphere, since it has high development potential. Every year more and more companies begin to pay attention to service.

In modern conditions, where customer service is a decisive factor of success, companies need mechanisms for promptly responding to reviews and complaints. This helps improve reputation and retain customers.

Before launching the startup we tested demand for the services. We tested this solution on several local companies in Zhytomyr. I personally offered businesses to try our service. The first version of the product was focused on receiving feedback through QR codes for restaurants and other sectors. The system proved effective, so we began improving the product.

What problems does our service solve? After one bad experience you can lose more than a third of your clients. If you continue to ignore complaints, 90% of customers will stop doing business with your company after the next 2–3 negative reviews. As for new people — more than 85% will not want to deal with a brand that has many complaints from buyers. That is why it is important to respond to reviews promptly.

Our clients are small and medium businesses with an e-commerce component regardless of industry.

With our service businesses can:

• Optimize marketing budgets, since retaining a customer costs ten times less than attracting a new one.
• Win back lost clients (there are cases where up to 30% of clients returned) and retain existing clients. 
• Prevent the emergence of negative content in social media or significantly reduce its volume.

How we attracted investments and financial support

Our investors are well-known business angels in Ukraine and Italian VC Lendlease.

I want to explain to other entrepreneurs that investment should be attracted when you genuinely need it and can clearly answer what you plan to use the funds for and what results you will achieve from this.

What helped us was a clear understanding of positioning, product development and target client. And, of course, systematicity and continuous work on fundraising.

Let me share our achievements:

• 2022 — we were selected among 1,300 applications from around the world and invited to the top 20 startups to participate in the worldwide Berkeley SkyDeck acceleration program with subsequent pre-Seed investment attraction.
• 2022 — received the Polish grant Poland Prize worth 70 thousand euros.
• 2023 — won first place in the Glovo startup competition, received a grant of 20 thousand euros and an internship in Barcelona.
• 2023 — entered the top 250 companies of Forbes and the top 100 Promising UA Startups.
• 2024 — received a Google grant for 100 thousand dollars.

It didn't come without failures either

At the beginning of the startup, the key challenges were: creating value to take to market, getting the first clients, attracting investment at an early stage, and building the reputation of our brand.

Throughout the startup's development many failures happened to us:

• Initially we formed the wrong target client profile, but were then able to shift our focus. 
• We had no financial management system. And if in business you don't have a PnL (profit and loss statement) and don't know your CashFlow, one day you might wake up with debts or even close the company.
• We lost 95% of clients in March 2022 due to the full-scale invasion. Fortunately, we were able to recover virtually 90% of what was lost due to good brand reputation and the value of our service.

Throughout the startup's development we understood that people and team should come first in business, and only then the product.

We always believed in what we were doing and never stopped at what we had achieved. From the very beginning of building the business we clearly knew our mission for external clients and vision for employees. 

Advice for other startup founders

• Have a global idea, but be ready to change.
• Build a strong team. Surround yourself with people who have the necessary competencies and who share your vision and mission.
• Be prepared for failures. Everyone makes mistakes — the main thing is to recognize them in time, draw conclusions, get up and keep moving.
• Constantly, continuously look for opportunities for development in everything — from quality networking to submitting applications for grant programs.
• Pitch, pitch and pitch again. Startup founders must be ready to "pitch" their product at any moment — to an investor, client or partners. 
• Continuously improve, learn to identify what matters most and demonstrate passion for your project. 
• And also — represent your startup on the international stage, be as public and open with your audience as possible.

About future plans

Our goal for the next few years is to become one of the best global products that helps improve service for small and medium-sized businesses. 

In the next two to three years we would like to enter the markets of Great Britain and the USA, and within a year we plan to scale to the markets of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden).

How will we do this? Our strategy is as follows: 

• Outbound: we are currently looking for a lead and two sales managers in Poland. And also — we want to accelerate and launch pilot projects with corporations.
• Inbound: we will launch marketing activities aimed at attracting traffic. We also want to develop a partner channel (cooperation with vendors such as Uployal.io, Shoper.pl, Home.pl, Idosell and others), launch advertising on Google and LinkedIn and hold conferences on service and marketing.

Does Ukraine need more startups? In my opinion, yes, because they are the driving force for economic growth, progress and innovation. 

In the near future the following directions will be relevant for startups: technology and IT (in particular, remote work services, AI and cybersecurity), agri-innovations (solutions for improving efficiency in agriculture), green energy (alternative energy sources and energy-efficient solutions), infrastructure and reconstruction (solutions for rebuilding the country after the war, etc.).