Max Polyakov

Businessman, investor, philanthropist, initiator of social and educational projects aimed at supporting science development and youth education in Ukraine

Postulates

Polyakov bases his entrepreneurial and charitable activities on the ideas of an outstanding scientist, academician, first president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Vernadsky. In the mid-20th century, Vernadsky, working on his theory of biosphere, derived a concept of noosphere, a so-called evolutionary state of the biosphere. The scientist believed that rational activity is fundamental to mankind's development and is vital for its safe and comfortable existence on Earth. Max Polyakov adheres to the same postulates in life and business, focusing on developing science, engineering, and supporting young talented people.

Max Polyakov
399px-Поляков_Максим_Валерійович.jpg 399px-Поляков_Максим_Валерійович.jpg Max Polyakov
Native name	Макс Поляков
Born	1977/06/30 Zaporizhya, Ukraine
🏡 Residence	Ukraine, United States
🏳️ Nationality	Ukrainian
🏫 Education	Zaporizhia State Medical University
💼 Occupation
🏅 Awards	2009 – Max Polyakov named ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ in Scotland by Ernst & Young
Honors	2018 – He was awarded ‘Man of the Year’ in Ukraine for his significant contributions to the revival of Ukraine’s space indust
🌐 Website	https://maxpolyakov.space/
🥚 Twitter	https://twitter.com/maxpolyakov
👍 Facebook	https://www.facebook.com/maxpolyakov.space/

Career

Business and investments

AlarIt Ukraine

Polyakov created his first company AlarIt Ukraine in 2001, a year after graduation. Company experts developed software for foreign companies. In just two years, AlarIt’s staff has grown ten times, reaching nearly 100 people.

Hit Dynamics

In 2002, Polyakov created Hit Dynamics, which quickly gained the attention of American Hitwise, a leader in analytical business solutions development. A year after acquiring HitDynamics in 2006, Hitwise merged with a British analytical corporation Experian that has offices around the world and tens-of-billions-dollar revenue.

Maxymiser

After his successful sale of Hit Dynamics, Polyakov and his partners established the next project, Maxymiser. Polyakov first becomes its CEO and later — a non-executive director. In less than ten years, this company becomes a recognized world expert in multidimensional testing, personalization & optimization, attracting more than 15 million of investments. In 2015, Maxymiser merged with a US corporation Oracle, the second largest after Microsoft.

Cupid

In 2010, Polyakov successfully launched his Cupid PLS dating project (originally EasyDate) on London Stock Exchange IPO. This company becomes one of the key players in this industry. In the next two years, it gains 50 million users, several tens of millions of dollars in revenue, and Deloitte awards as “The fastest growing company in Scotland” and “Best Travel & Leisure PLC” at the UK Stock Market Awards.

Murka

In 2011, Polyakov invests in Murka, a company developing social casino games. Like most of his projects, Murka eventually becomes an object of interest for another business giant, an American investment group Blackstone. In 2019, it bought all Murka assets.

Renatus Media

In 2012, Max Polyakov creates another social and mobile games development project, Renatus Media. This company quickly becomes popular in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, while its games are available on AppStore, Amazon, and Google Market.

Noosphere Ventures Partners

In 2014, after moving to the US Silicon Valley, Polyakov becomes a managing partner for Noosphere Ventures Partners venture capital fund. This fund supports promising IT projects — the sphere Polyakov is already well-acquainted with. Besides, it supports space technology, social marketing, and medical cybernetics startups.

EOS DATA Analytics

EOS DA, inspired by Polyakov’s idea, becomes one of the fund’s key projects. In 2015, this company developed an innovative and widely available cloud platform for processing & analyzing satellite geomonitoring data. This software is incredibly popular all over the world. Scientific, environmental organizations, state, and even military structures use its data.

Ask.Fm

In 2016, Noosphere Ventures buys Ask.fm, a large question&answer social network, with more than 80 million users worldwide.

Firefly Aerospace

Curious about space development, Max Polyakov meets an American engineer Tom Markusik, the creator of an aerospace company Firefly Space Systems Inc., in 2017. Markusik’s company develops small satellite light launchers. Noosphere Ventures Partners acquires this company's assets, patents, and intellectual property. As a result, the joint company is rebranded into Firefly Aerospace, while Markusik and Polyakov’s partnership exemplifies the concepts of noosphere valued by Polyakov.

The businessman attracts engineers and scientists from Dnipro, a city in Ukraine, with a great space history. Firefly opens an R&D center in Dnipro, where it develops and tests vehicle components.

Firefly Aerospace technical breakthrough catches NASA’s attention, so it eventually selects Polyakov to participate in a new lunar program Artemis, announced by Donald Trump in 2019. Besides, Firefly gains the US Navy’s confidence for launching orbital missions from Vandenberg spaceport.

Currently, FireFly is preparing for the first launch of its Alpha light vehicle, which is already approaching the final testing stage. Besides, the company is working on a Beta launch vehicle, a Gamma space shuttle, and SETS rocket engines. In the meantime, EOS DA is working on telecommunications & radar satellites EOS SAT and SAR.

 

Education and scientific success

Max Polyakov has two degrees (in medicine & economics), a doctorate in economics, as well as a dozen patents for inventions, including an identification system that controls and organizes personal information. Besides, Polyakov co-authored several scientific and philosophical works on semiotics, noospherology, and innovation.

Charity and social work

Noosphere Engineering School

Polyakov’s idea to create a network of research sites on the basis of leading Ukrainian universities arose when he was in graduate school at Dnipropetrovsk National University. That is how in 2012, the first lab called Noosphere Engineering School came to life at one of the DNU departments. Today, seven Ukrainian cities have a total of ten labs. There, young people can get useful knowledge and experience absolutely free of charge. Later, they can implement this knowledge for promising tech developments or get hired by international tech companies. In seven years of NES existence, its students have developed and implemented several useful projects:

·  Cup Navigator — a competition result calculation system, which is now successfully used in rocket-modeling contests supervised by FAI (World Aeronautics Association);

·  MyPol — a mobile app for contacting the police;

·  AtrOS – software system for managing artillery fire, adopted by the Ukrainian troops, etc.

Vernadsky Challenge

In 2015, Polyakov initiated an annual international competition of engineering startups — Vernadsky Challenge. Project goals are similar to those of Noosphere Engineering School, with a single difference. Vernadsky Challenge young talents enter this contest with ready-made ideas and compete for a grant that will allow them to bring these ideas to life.

Association Noosphere

In 2016, Max initiates a non-profit public association Noosphere, which organizes social and educational events for young Ukrainians. In just three years of operation, Noosphere Association held three family robotics festivals BestRoboFest in Dnipro, two NASA Space Challenge regional hackathons in Kyiv & Dnipro, reconstructed part of Dnipro Gagarin park zone, planetarium, etc.

Awards

2009 -  Entrepreneur of the Year in Scotland

2017 - Honorary FAI Member for his contribution to the organization's activities and modernization of systems for calculating competition results

2019 – Laureate of the National Ukrainian Prize “Person of the Year” in the nomination “For a Significant Contribution to the Development of Ukrainian Space Industry.”

Hobbies

Polyakov owns a unique collection — over a hundred of iron sculptures made at Kasli metal factory. One of the first sculptures in this collection, Young Dreamer, inspired Noosphere and its corporate network logo.

EXPERTISE

Business:

● Founder of the Ukrainian IT market. International trends in IT business;

● Entrepreneurship made in Ukraine;

● Representation of national and business interests of Ukraine in the USA;

Innovation:

● International and Ukrainian space industry;

● Implementing innovative technologies in various industries;

Social responsibility:

● Social responsibility in business;

● Technological education pro bono;

● Developing modern science and technical education in Ukraine;

● Planet preservation technology.

References

This page exists already on Wikipedia.

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