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Вікторія ГорбікStartup
6 June 2025, 13:00
2025-06-06
“Due to fear and uncertainty, many employees are fired after a diagnosis.” Ukrainian startups are developing a service to help cancer patients, their loved ones, and employers. Here's how it works
The startups of the Turbota24 project, which created a free application to support cancer patients and their families, are calling on companies to support employees who have cancer or support relatives with such a diagnosis. The founder of the service, Gosha Akimov, told dev.ua about the development of the startup, as well as new achievements and future plans.
The startups of the Turbota24 project, which created a free application to support cancer patients and their families, are calling on companies to support employees who have cancer or support relatives with such a diagnosis. The founder of the service, Gosha Akimov, told dev.ua about the development of the startup, as well as new achievements and future plans.
Born from one’s own pain
The 39-year-old founder of the cancer patient support service «Turbota24» Gosha Akimov grew up in a small village in the Kyiv region and now lives in Brovary. He did not start his journey in startups with medicine or technology. Back in 2008, he studied at the National Pedagogical University named after. Dragomanov. Then he was a co-owner of an event agency. But over time, under the influence of circumstances, the family’s priorities changed and he decided to focus on socially important things.
Gosha Akimov, founder of the startup «Turbota24» (Photo from personal archive)
In 2019, while caring for his relatives with cancer, Gosha Akimov saw how difficult it is for a person with an oncological diagnosis and their family to navigate treatment, maintain psycho-emotional balance, and at the same time not lose touch with «normal» life. Especially when the system, according to him, does not provide support, and the information is either too much or contradictory. At the same time, while communicating with the founders of the Ukrainian Psycho-Oncology Association, Gosha Akimov came across the idea of creating his own project on this topic.
While already working at Turbota24, he trained at the Mission Possible, Challenger AI Accelerator, and Oxford Said Business School programs.
About comprehensive assistance
According to the founder, he and his team began developing the project in 2019 with in-depth interviews with patients, families, and doctors to understand their needs. The team then launched several products that logically grew out of each other.
The first step was psychological support — the startups created the Telegram bot Scally, which helped relatives of cancer patients shift their focus to themselves and reduce their anxiety without the help of a psychotherapist.
Part of the startup team «Turbota24» (Photo from the personal archive of the project founder Gosha Akimov)
Later, the startups, together with a team of oncology psychologists, launched a free emotional support service for families of cancer patients, which works in the format of a mobile application. Initially, it was called Scally Care and only later was it renamed «Turbota24». The startups also transferred the functionality of the Scally Telegram bot. In addition, the MVP of the application included daily audio practices, then the product added a medication calendar, treatment instructions, and a chat for crisis situations.
The application works as a digital assistant: it asks about your emotional state every day, selects individual psychological exercises (in audio or text format), helps you understand the stages of treatment, gives advice in critical situations via chat, and also allows you to keep a medication calendar.
With its help, patients can also make an appointment with a specialized oncologist upon request. To this end, the startups have agreements on cooperation with private and public hospitals, in particular with the National Cancer Institute and Tomo clinic.
Currently, «Turbota24» is preparing an update that will be available at the end of 2025. According to the startupers, the application will have a clearer design, more user feedback, and a new architecture for automating clinic appointments. In addition, at the end of the year, immediately after the update, the project plans to launch services for other clients — laboratories and drug retailers.
«Because we already have strong partners, whom we monetize precisely through this update,» added Gosha Akimov.
Corporate approach
In addition to the free application, the main product of «Turbota24» right now is corporate support for employees with cancer. The team offers companies to implement social initiatives, build a culture of support, and save money on hiring and training new staff.
«In fact, no one wants to get sick. Everyone wants to continue living their full lives. Work is one of the important pillars,» emphasizes Gosha Akimov.
The startup’s co-founder explains that fear and uncertainty cause many employees to quit after a diagnosis, even though they actually want to continue living and working to their full potential. «In times of staffing crisis, this means losses for the business — both human and financial,» he emphasizes.
Instead, as Gosha Akimov adds, companies that support employees in difficult times gain loyalty, retain the team, and strengthen their employer brand. Startups help companies implement systemic support for employees who have been diagnosed with cancer personally or in their family.
In addition, the team is currently developing partnerships with services that help patients during treatment and working on a community feature for caregivers.
Gosha Akimov, founder of the startup «Turbota24» (Photo from personal archive)
To implement the plan, «Turbota24» has assembled the best possible team to implement support protocols in the HR departments of corporate clients. The startups collaborate with top oncologists, the National Cancer Institute, and the Ukrainian Psycho-Oncology Association. Thanks to this, according to Gosha Akimov, each employee from the client company receives a personal medical assistant and oncopsychologist for the entire period of treatment. Also, in cooperation with HR, the startups help reintegrate a person into the work process, taking into account the side effects of treatment, physical and psychological conditions.
About the team
The startup was started by three people — Gosha Akimov, developer Anton Galitsky, and oncopsychologist Viktoriya Kostecka. Later, they added another co-founder, Marina Zaporozhets, and recruited other specialists to the team, which now has 12 people.
The team of the startup «Turbota24» (Photo by the project founder)
Interestingly, the team includes not just marketers, PR people, or community managers. Eight of them have a direct connection to cancer: some have their own stories, some have cared for their loved ones. In addition, the startups have a user of the service on board, who is now helping to develop it.
They are still looking for an experienced B2B salesperson who has experience selling specifically to e-commerce.
About users
The «Turbota24» application already has over 5,000 users, but right now the startups are mainly focusing on corporate sales. In addition, according to Gosha Akimov, they are negotiating with several companies and are close to concluding a deal with one of the largest banks in Ukraine. He is not disclosing the name yet.
The startuper also adds that the product has significant export potential. «It does not require certification, so entering new markets will be faster and cheaper. In essence, this is 'technological outsourcing' in a narrow niche,» explains the project founder.
According to him, in further development, the startups are targeting the US and UK markets.
«There are already competitors there, but most often these are internal developments of companies, not comprehensive solutions with integration into the system, like ours,» adds Gosha Akimov.
About money
The startup is currently funded by the founders’ own funds and money from one angel investor. The total investment is $120,000. The Turbota24 team does not plan to open a new round in the near future and aims to reach breakeven using its own resources. Gosha Akimov also added that although the project has reached a profit, the numbers are «quite modest.»
To do this, despite the free services for, the startups have developed a monetization model. In particular, the «Turbota24» project receives a commission from clinics. In addition, the corporate support package for the Ukrainian market costs $980 for the entire period of treatment — on average, it is about 10 months, that is, approximately $98 per month. For other markets, according to the startup, the cost will be several times higher, taking into account the solvency of customers and the cost of localization of services.
In addition to the basic package, «Turbota24» additionally offers companies workshops, screenings, and examinations for employees — as a tool for prevention and forming a culture of care within the team.
About plans for the future
Globally, according to the project founder, the startup’s plans are big, ambitious, and long-term.
«We work with the mission of changing attitudes towards people with cancer and helping them live a full and dignified life,» says Gosha Akimov, adding that in most cases it is, the main thing is to keep quiet about your diagnosis. That is why they want to monopolize everything.
They are already working on future partnerships that will help patients get cheaper treatment, medicines, tests and confidently move along the path of treatment. They have partnerships with laboratories and drug retailers. For commercial cooperation, the team needs to take certain steps, update the product and fit the entire strategy into a single ecosystem.
«We also want to speak louder about the dignity of patients at the corporate level. And only then, when we set everything up in Ukraine, will we move on,» adds the project founder. But the US has no illusions about the fact that a Ukrainian product will easily scale, for example.
In addition, the startups plan to create a strong support ecosystem in Ukraine — they are already working on partnerships that will allow patients to receive cheaper treatment, medicines, tests, and have more confidence on the path to recovery, and they have agreements with laboratories and pharmacy chains.
In parallel, the team is preparing for scaling: updating the product, structuring the offer, and integrating all services into a single ecosystem.
