Startup

While Tinder and Bumble struggle with user churn due to “swipe fatigue,” Oleksandr Kazmirchuk is launching SpicyDate. It’s a dating app where you don’t have to wait for a mutual like to start dating, and annoying correspondence gives way to shared leisure time thanks to integration with establishments and attending events. We talked to Oleksandr about how the experience of friendship helped him create a platform where people meet again in restaurants and on walks, not on smartphone screens.

Roman Gapachilo worked in service IT for over 20 years and seemed to know the industry down to the smallest detail. But at some point, that wasn’t enough. He left the large service business Intellias, where he had worked for 7 years, and headed the Ukrainian defense startup DoD Solution, which develops computers and software for autonomous drones. dev.ua talked to him about this transition, the risks, 1 million euros of investment, hiring, humor during war, and why everything is much simpler in defense: you either do it or you lose.

Ukrainian military and former system administrator Oleksiy Halkovich created the Memessage application—a tool that allows you to animate correspondence and turn it into a video with the most realistic chat behavior possible. The development became a way for him to «escape from reality» during his service — and at the same time grew into a full-fledged product. We tell you how humor helps keep your mind sharp and who Memessage can be useful to.