Founders

In the past Alexander Davydov created SKB Kontur, a company built on the creation of programming solutions for electronic document circulation, accounting automation, and enterprise management.

While the company dates back to the beginning of the IT industry in Russia, in 2011 total revenue for SKB Kontur amounted to 3.1 billion rubles (95 million dollars), the client base was up to one million subscribers, and the company’s presence extended throughout 84 regions in Russia, where it operated its own federal call center and powerful server infrastructure. SKB Kontur is listed among the top ten fastest growing IT companies in Russia (according to CNews) and placed fifth in a rating of software developers in Russia (Kommersant Money).

Later Alexander Davydov became the co-incorporator and technical director at Microtest, a system integrator. In 2012 Microtest was among the ten largest IT service providers in Russia (rating by CNews Analytics) and placed fifth on a list of the largest IT consulting firms (rating by Finance). Microtest’s turnover in 2012 was 11.53 billion rubles (350 million dollars).

A major step in Alexander Davydov’s career came when he, along with Kirill Varlamov, created NAUMEN, a company that ten years later became one of the leading players in the Russian software market. The company has offices in Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Tver, Chelyabinsk, Astana, and Manila.

Alexander Davydov graduated from the Institute of Physics and Technology at Ural Federal University with a major in engineering. According to Davydov, the physics and technology program at UFU turned students into top-notch managers of high-risk, innovative projects able to quickly figure out problems, understand the structure of vague projects, and get results.

Kirill Varlamov began his career at Microtest (Yekaterinburg), where he created and ran the software development department.

Later Kirill Varlamov, along with Alexander Davydov, created NAUMEN, a company that subsequently became a leader in the software development markets in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Until 2009 he worked as the executive director and from 2009 till 2013 as the director general of NAUMEN, which specializes in developing and implementing large-scale software (document circulation, inventory, contact center, and service desk software) as well as custom development. NAUMEN specialists have implemented over 800 projects, with clients including communication operators, banks, financial groups, metallurgical and heavy industry companies, trading and production holdings, government agencies, and state enterprises.

NAUMEN’s staff includes over 300 employees, more than 200 of whom are developers or tech specialists, and the company has offices in Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Tver, Chelyabinsk, Astana, and Manila.

In March 2013 Varlamov was named director of the Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF), a statutory fund that amounts to six billion rubles. IIDF, along with the St. Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics, and Optics (University ITMO), is creating business accelerators to support commercially promising internet startups both in Moscow and other regions of Russia.

Kirill Varlamov graduated from Ural Federal University with a degree in engineering technology, later earning an Executive MBA at Skolkovo.