Former head of Allegro group launches competitor to OLX
After Julia Marishchuk moved from the Allegro group holding to Universal Commerce Group, she became the head of a new platform – Prosto.ua. A new player in the Ukrainian marketplace is emerging – the e-commerce service Prosto.ua, as reported by Forbes.The project was launched on November 1, immediately in two formats – a 'Business-to-Customer' marketplace and a 'Customer-to-Customer' classified ads board. Visitors will be able to choose where it is more convenient for them to shop. Julia Marishchuk, who led the Allegro group holding – which includes giants like Aukro.ua, modnaKasta.ua, Prom.ua, Olx.ua, Ria.ua, PayU, Vcene.ua – for the past seven years, is overseeing the launch of Prosto.ua. This spring, she moved to the position of CEO at Universal Commerce Group.The holding oversees a number of projects, including AvtoMax – a car search service, Krysha.ua – a real estate search system, Price.ua – an online catalog of goods and services, Sravni – a price comparison service, as well as the job search website Trud.com. These portals operate in markets such as Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Universal Commerce Group is an investment project of the Noosphere holding, owned by Ukrainian Maxim Polyakov.Within six months of starting work on the new project, Marishchuk is launching a project that will be a direct competitor to the projects from Allegro group – her former 'child'. So far, around $100,000 has been invested in the project, which has been spent on technical implementation. 'Prosto.ua features the most successful functional solutions developed over the past few years,' shares Marishchuk. According to her, 10 professionals from Universal Commerce Group worked on developing these solutions, which took four months.Until the end of the year, the platform is planned to be free. After that, the new platform is expected to employ three types of revenue: a commission on completed orders, a fee for increasing the visibility of products and listings, and media advertising. Their cost and payment form will vary for listings and products that can be purchased through the cart.The company aims for a return on investment within two years. This is taking into account that after several months of project operation, further funding is planned.However, the amount of expected investments in UCG has not yet been disclosed. 'We are definitely not interested in promoting an investment approach where the project cannot recoup its investments within the next 10 years,' Marishchuk reports. As there are already several similar platforms operating in Ukraine, additional investments are indispensable in this case.Participants in the current market estimate them at several million dollars. 'The marketplace is a market where the main criterion for success is the number of sellers and buyers on the platform; therefore, the winner here takes all. Starting players have almost no chances in the presence of successful platforms unless they use some unique and complex-to-replicate innovations,' believes Nikolai Paliyenko, the CEO of Prom.ua.He was echoed by venture investor and managing partner of AVentures fund, Evgeny Sysoyev: 'If Noosphere sets a goal to enter the market and become a leader in Ukraine's B2C and C2C marketplace, they will need millions of dollars. But the chances are slim.'According to Sysoyev, it is not excluded that Prosto.ua views the Ukrainian market as a training ground and will aim for Eastern Europe. 'E-commerce platforms have long gone beyond startup stages; now the key is competent and correct management. In this regard, Noosphere has something to boast about,' notes Andrey Horsev, CEO of the safe shopping club Klubok.com. However, he also expresses doubts about success. 'Even though there are several analogues of Alibaba in Ukraine, in the end, only one will remain – I would bet on Prom.ua. Though we are just dust on Jack Ma's (founder of Alibaba – Forbes) shoes,' jokes Horsev.Noosphere is an international asset management company. Its portfolio includes about 50 projects in areas such as online marketing, social internet services, and e-commerce. In Ukraine, apart from business, Noosphere oversees several social initiatives, including a program for the integration of science into business and an online platform for students called Noosphere Engineering School. The holding also supports the Federation of Rocket Model Sports of Ukraine.
