Марія Бровінська Startup 5 August 2025, 10:00

Ukrainians created AI-Copilot for Upwork. It is already used by Kyivstar and over 150 other businesses. How does such a tool work and does it really speed up the search for orders?

Ukrainian IT companies have been complaining for several years about the difficulties in attracting customers due to the war. Customers are taking into account military risks and the possibility of uninterrupted work. Artificial intelligence is also gradually replacing entire teams from the market. Understanding this problem, developers with over 15 years of experience, Kyrylo Kozak and Vitaliy Drozhdin, have found a solution that helps companies find customers. They created the Getmany AI assistant, which automates the routine of searching for projects and significantly saves IT teams time, increasing their overall productivity. Currently, it is already used by Kyivstar and another one and a half hundred agencies that provide services on the Upwork platform.

dev.ua tells how the Getmany service works, which the founders call AI-Copilot for Upwork.

The idea is on the surface

The idea for the startup, says Kyrylo, arose quite organically, as he has been working with Upwork for ten years. «At some point, I realized that the number of requests from agency founders regarding the optimization of their profiles, the work of algorithms, and cover letters was actively growing. At some point, I caught myself thinking that the requests were quite similar to each other. I felt that I was ready to close this need by creating my product Getmany, a SaaS B2B tool based on artificial intelligence for automated lead generation on the Upwork platform,» says Kyrylo.

The IT guy’s project partner was Kyrylo’s childhood friend Vitaliy Drozhdin, with whom Kozak developed modifications for Counter-Strike and Minecraft as a teenager. As they grew older, Vitaliy and Kyrylo created a design studio and worked on the Ukrainian market, and then decided to scale to the US market, having an impressive portfolio of WordPress sites. At that time, the specialists worked perfectly, so there were no questions about partnership in the new project.

«We predicted that creating an MVP would take no more than 6 months, but in practice, development took over a year. The final cost after entering the market was $150,000,» says Kirill.

According to him, the project is being financed from his own pocket — the money that the IT professional earned over 10 years of outsourcing and outstaffing on Upwork. «Funds and angels approached me, offering to invest in a startup, and at first I almost agreed, but I decided that as long as we can, we will move without investment, and we will always have time to take it,» says Kyrylo.

How does the Getmany service work?

Getmany is a tool that helps agencies on Upwork acquire clients 24/7, much more efficiently and faster than a team doing manual lead generation. It allows you to automatically generate cover letters, analyze and generate relevant project proposals for each agency on the platform. This tool eliminates the need for daily manual bidding (job applications), which is inferior to automated ones in speed, personalization and reach.

«We strive to help agency owners in Ukraine reduce lead generation costs, stay competitive, earn more, and support the country’s economy,» explains Kyrylo, the startup’s mission. According to him, the user agency can choose the submission time and day in the service, prepare cover letters (template or AI-generated cover letter), answer client questions, activate search, and track the submission process.

«Another important component of the product is the JSE (job search engine) function. It is designed to optimize the search for potential clients by selecting projects based on your agency’s specialization and project needs, saving time and resources for attracting potential clients,» explains Kyrylo.

To do this, you need to select filters (skills, budget to set a minimum hourly rate and/or fixed price for projects, project duration, client type, size of companies in which you are looking for orders. And after that, run the search. Detailed instructions on using the service are here and here.

The developers offer several types of subscriptions that have similar functions, such as an automated bidder with three AI models, job analytics, reply and view rate tracking, and performance statistics, and they differ in the number of available credits (the internal currency used to apply for jobs) and the cost of additional credits. The Custom plan includes the development of an individual development plan, strategy consulting, and support from a personal manager. We do all this at our own expense and currently cover all operating expenses. We can talk about their payback in the future.

The Getmany team now has 13 employees: nine directly involved in development, as well as HR and three support specialists who help customers. Currently, according to the co-founder, the team is rapidly developing in the local market, and has also entered the Polish market and is actively considering the prospect of entering other Western markets.

Customers are satisfied

More than 150 businesses are already using the service. The cost of using Getmany starts at $349, but, says Kirill, users have the option of a 14-day trial period. «Getmany has already replaced the lead generation manager on Upwork, in the form in which they existed until 2025. Now it is fast enough to configure and coordinate artificial intelligence to search for relevant leads,» says Kozak.

Among the users of the service, there are many businesses that are very satisfied with the tool. Someone mentions the service created by Kirill and Vitaliy, a member of the team, some users previously thought that they did not need such a service, but after trying it, they were convinced otherwise. User feedback is mostly positive: someone says that they received five real orders in the first month of use, someone is impressed that Getmany works even at night, which increases business efficiency and conversion rate.

Here are some case studies from Getmany business users.

2328% increase in views

Mobile app developer Applica increased bid views by 2,328% using Getmany’s AI Bidding. It also reduced the average bid review time from over 21 hours to just 16 minutes. In 90 days, Getmany’s AI-Generation Bidder gave the business 170 bid views and 42 responses, with a response rate of 6,25%, while the manual approach only received 7 views and 0 responses.

Reduction of application time by 70%

And Odessa-based design agency Brandon Archibald Agency reduced the time to submit applications on Upwork by 70% and the cost of one response by $18 thanks to Ukrainian development. Having sent 501 proposals, Getmany AI-Generation achieved a view rate of 27,5% and a response rate of 4,6%. This outperformed the competitor’s services, which sent 61 proposals with a view rate of 21,3% and a response rate of 3,3%. Personalized proposals, optimized operations, and improved bidding automation significantly improved the number of views, leading to higher engagement and more successful bids on Upwork.

Twice as many answers

In turn, marketing agency OMG Agency received twice as many responses thanks to Getmany automation. After the first 30 days of using Getmany, the benefits of the AI service became obvious. OMG sent 462 proposals and received 201 views and 44 responses. The AI system significantly increased efficiency, processing a large number of requests and ensuring consistent interaction with customers.

Don’t miss the chance to respond to a relevant vacancy

Kyivstar.Tech, an IT company that is a subsidiary of one of the largest telecommunications operators in Ukraine, Kyivstar, has also joined the Getmany client base. «We actively use the AI-bidder with a notification system. This is very convenient, because every time we receive a notification about a new project, the AI-bidder immediately submits an application. This allows you not to miss the chance to respond to a relevant vacancy and gives you a competitive advantage,» the company says. In turn, Kyivstar.Tech notes that the correct setting of smart filters in the Getmany service allows you to improve your bidding strategy. Also, since the company makes decisions based on numbers, Getmany’s advanced analytics with detailed statistics of offers, including the current status on Upwork and performance indicators, gives the business a clear understanding of the progress in bidding.

The Insights feature is also actively used here — it allows you to analyze which keywords your customers use most often. This helps you optimize your profile and find new categories for scaling.

Three tips from Getmany co-founders for business

Think like a product, not a service provider. To be a valuable partner, it’s not enough to simply complete a task. Think bigger—how your contribution will impact the user, the business’s growth, the strategic goal. When you think like a product, you become indispensable. And don’t shy away from technologies that make your job easier.
Transparency and initiative are key to trust. The best agencies don’t just work according to the terms of reference, they ask clarifying questions, suggest better options, and warn about risks. They are honest about their limitations and aren’t afraid to give feedback. This builds a partnership, not a subordination.
Your expertise is your main product. Clients come to Upwork not for «hands», but for solutions. Demonstrate your expertise in every project: through processes, documentation, analytics, communication culture. This is what distinguishes the top players from thousands of similar agencies.

"We'll move without investments as long as we can, and we'll always have time to take them." Ukrainians created an AI startup called Getmany for automated lead generation on Upwork. How does it work?

Fedorov appealed to the CEO of Upwork due to the blocking of Ukrainians on the platform: "The current approach discriminates against citizens who have not violated any rules"

UPD. Upwork responded to the mass blocking of Ukrainians on the platform. Currently, more than 100 cases are known. What's next?

Fedorov said that Upwork has started unblocking Ukrainian accounts