Ruslan Tymofieiev (Ruslan Timofeev): How Adventures Lab chooses startups for investing

Adventures Lab is a Ukrainian investment fund interested in high-tech projects that are in the early stages of development. Ruslan Tymofieiev (Ruslan Timofeev) speaks about the main investment trends and selection criteria for choosing startups for investing.

Adventures Lab entered the market in December 2019. Since then, the fund has invested over $15M in IT projects, including Reface app, StreamHERO, and EduDo. Let us look at them in greater detail.

Reface is an entertainment app that can be used to swap faces in photos and videos. This startup is popular worldwide. Adventures Lab invested in it at an early stage predicting a bright future.

EduDo is an educational platform similar to TikTok. Platform users upload short videos with an explanation of various topics. The Adventures Lab’s funding was intended to extend and improve content creation tools. 

Adventures Lab invested $550,000 in StreamHERO streaming service. The service integrates advertisement into gamers’ streams. With the increasing popularity of esports games, this investment is promising.

Ruslan Tymofieiev explains that choosing a project for investment is a responsible process that includes different types of audit and forecasting. Even experienced investors make mistakes, so it is necessary to think twice (or even more) before taking a decision.

The first screening contains marketing research, testing of an idea, and checking the business strategy. Ruslan Tymofieiev says, it is important to check whether there are skilled managers and team leaders in the team, if the product meets the needs of the target audience. The technical audit is extremely important, too. Adventures Lab assesses each project according to these criteria. The fund works with projects in the early stage of development and with those startups that have launched their product already and are looking for funding for scaling.

As Ruslan Tymofieiev says, from 2010 to 2013, a lot of Ukrainian startups appeared. Entrepreneurs obtained funding from national and foreign investors, started the business, and relocated abroad quickly. They moved to those counties that provided good conditions for IT business, such as the USA, Poland, Cyprus, etc. 

Recently, after several years of frustration, the Ukrainian startup market comes to life again. Ruslan Tymofieiev believes that Ukraine has a good chance to develop this sphere because the country has skilled entrepreneurs, ambitious and enthusiastic, ready for challenges and great achievements.