# Volodymyr Shpodarunok > Founder, 18, based in Vienna. Ukrainian. Concept first, then the business model and the brand. An exam-prep company, a messenger built for blackouts, and a youth platform with a team of 10+. Site: https://volodymyr.buzz Email: lviv.vai.self@gmail.com Elsewhere: https://www.linkedin.com/in/volo-shpodarunok-a32b132aa/, https://www.instagram.com/chanhudjyon/, https://unsplash.com/@vartme ## Programmes & recognition Three times the youngest in the room: the youngest fellow at ELP in Vienna, the youngest finalist team at UCU IdeasLab, and the youngest team ever to pitch at Notre Dame’s IDEA Center. ## What people wrote Notes, emails and messages from ELP (Vienna), Entrepreneurs First and The Residency. Names kept private. - "Definitely one of the most original emails I’ve received in a while." — Entrepreneurs First - "I am the lead at The Residency in NYC and loved your application." — The Residency, New York - "We haven’t talked a lot, but I truly admire your courage & entrepreneurial spirit. You have a very genuine presence." — ELP fellow, Vienna - "It’s extremely impressive what you have already done at your age. I was also very impressed that you pitched." — ELP fellow, Vienna - "You’re already rocking it at such a young age. I’d like to help you with your project, as I really like your cause." — ELP alumnus, Vienna - "Sometimes you remind me of my younger self. Follow your dreams and the path you are currently going!" — ELP alumnus, Vienna - "Find me for a chat about the AI aspects of your idea. I’m an AI engineer." — ELP fellow, AI engineer - "We are so excited to kick off the ELP with you! We can’t wait to see what you’ll achieve in 1 year." — AustrianStartups, ELP team ## Volodymyr — Founder · 18 · Vienna Page: https://volodymyr.buzz/p/about Ukrainian, based in Vienna, where I moved on my own at 17. Everything I build is rooted in Ukraine. - Industry: Founder · Vienna · 18 - What I did: Concept, Business model, Brand, Design, Programming, Video editing, 3D modelling, Photography, AI agents, School president - 4: products: NMT.academy, Bridge, UKnow, Etherlynx - 163: students on NMT.academy - 7,700: Bridge users - 5: crafts: design, code, video, 3D, photo — now with AI - Link: mailto:lviv.vai.self@gmail.com > "Definitely one of the most original emails I’ve received in a while. Great to see how much you’ve been building already." — Entrepreneurs First, Reply to my cold email, 2026 ### Moved to Vienna on my own at 17 I’m Ukrainian. I moved to Vienna on my own at 17, and I build from here: everything I make is rooted in Ukraine. Ukrainian is my native language. My English is C1 and my German is B2. ### School president at Lviv Academic Gymnasium I was school president: more than 40 events, and a system that raised more at our charity fundraisers. ### Three times the youngest in the room The youngest fellow in the cohort at ELP, AustrianStartups’ Entrepreneurial Leadership Program in Vienna. The youngest finalist team in the history of IdeasLab at UCU, top 10 of 147. The youngest team ever to pitch at Notre Dame’s IDEA Center, at 17. ### Many skills first, then AI on top of them I started with design. Then I learned programming, video editing and 3D modelling, and I’ve been photographing for a long time. So I had a lot of different skills before AI came along. Then I started using all of them with AI. Because I know how each craft works by hand, AI helps me understand things better and build much faster: products, AI agents for companies, AI video editing, brands and sites. Some of what that looks like today: our video lessons are edited by an AI pipeline that syncs titles and animations to what the teacher says; the NMT.academy Telegram bot answers students, teachers and parents from the course material; through Etherlynx I build agents for clients that reply to leads, handle support and write reports. This site was built the same way. ### What I build, and the hard part The concept first. Then the business model, and the brand. We competed with students from the best universities in Ukraine while we were still in school. We built products during the war and the blackouts, and competed with people whose experience in IT is as long as we have been alive. While we built Bridge and went through IdeasLab, the best accelerator for students in Ukraine, I was still in school and preparing for the NMT, with 27 hours of tutors a week. ### I photograph cities, because I like it Streets and architecture, published free on Unsplash for anyone to use. 69 photos, 200k+ views. ### Written by me - Project Oxygen: peace, like a product, is something you build (https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7468434786626224128/) - IdeasLab pitch day, and a presentation that jumped to slide 7 (https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7325173107017601030/) ### Details - Based: Vienna, since 17 - Languages: Ukrainian, native, English, C1, German, B2 - Write to me: lviv.vai.self@gmail.com ## NMT.academy — Founder and CEO · 2024 to now Page: https://volodymyr.buzz/p/nmt-academy An adaptive exam-prep platform for Ukraine’s national university-entrance exam, built without investment. - Industry: Education · EdTech - What I did: Concept, Business model, Brand, Naming, Mascot, B2B sales, First clients - 163: students in three cohorts - 80: of them paid - 20 of 22: who aimed for 190+ got it - $9k+: revenue, no investment - Link: https://nmt.academy ### Started with a teacher who asked us for a small platform The idea came from our history teacher. He asked us to build a small platform to help his students prepare for the NMT. For about a year it was a simple LMS. Then we decided we wanted to earn more from it and rebuilt it as an adaptive platform, where everything adapts to the student, because we live in the era of customization. ### Exams have been my problem my whole life Not because I didn’t prepare. I get so afraid that it almost turns into a panic attack. My nose bleeds when I write exams, and sometimes I can’t even see the sheet in front of me. I saw a psychologist about it as a teenager. That forced me to work out early that an exam doesn’t only measure what you know. It measures how you perform inside a narrow format, under time, once. That is a separate skill, and almost nobody teaches it. This is what pushed me to build NMT.academy: so that students walk into the exam knowing the subject and knowing how to handle the exam itself. ### Rebuilt it so every question is picked for the student Now every question is picked for the student, their weak spots are found, and that carries into the study materials they go through. We took the NMT ourselves. Ihor got two 200s. ### Built the concept, the business model and the brand I came up with all of it: the name, the green, the mascot. The mascot was meant to be the logo and turned into a mascot. Green because it fits and is calm enough to study with. I also manage our B2B leads and our first clients. My co-founder Ihor builds the platform and the algorithm. ### Chose B2B2C over selling to students one by one We decided not to go to the B2C market. We bring in teachers, and they stay with us for a long time, because we raise their students’ results a lot. That’s where our first paying students came from. Teachers have signed on and are starting to build their own courses on our platform. Three tutors want to join. Exam-prep centres are next. ### What I learned, and what I’d do differently The hard part was arguments inside the team. That’s it. I’d build the adaptive platform from day one, and go B2B from day one. People need a lot of customization to get high results today. Next: foreign markets, like the SAT, or getting inside a large number of private schools. ### Team - Founder and CEO: Volodymyr Shpodarunok - Co-founder and CTO: Ihor Kharkholiuk - Author of the method: Volodymyr Turchyn - Live reviews: Zoriana Halchak - Social and course production: Maksym Matviiv ## Bridge — Co-founder and CPO · 2024 to 2025 Page: https://volodymyr.buzz/p/bridge A messenger for blackouts, co-founded while still in school, that reached 7,700 users before we shut it down. - Industry: Messaging · Consumer app - What I did: Concept, Business model, Brand, Product, Pitching - 7,700: users - 2M: reach on social media - 15+: news stories - Top 10: of 147 teams at IdeasLab - Link: https://bridgemsg.com/ > "At Ideas Center UCU I met a team of 4 boys aged 16–17 who just built a messenger that works with super weak internet, has end-to-end encryption, and already has 7,500 users. I really like their vision and their way of thinking." — Bohdan Mykhailiv, Founder, on LinkedIn after our MVP talk (https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7315784178585792513/) ### Started when nobody could reach anybody during blackouts There were blackouts, and nobody could reach anybody. We decided to solve that. Four of us, mostly friends from school. My part was the business model, the brand and the concept. The logo is a bridge: a bridge between people, which is what a messenger is. ### Grew to 7,700 users through the news and one key partner The 7,700 users and 2 million reach came through social media. We made the news, and we brought in a key partner who promoted us in Telegram channels. ### Pitched against university teams while we were still in school At IdeasLab we went from the top 20 to the top 10 by winning the first pitch competition. Then Race to Revenue at Notre Dame, the youngest team ever to pitch there. We competed with students from the best universities in Ukraine while we were still in school. We built products during the war and the blackouts, and competed with people whose experience in IT is as long as we have been alive. While we built Bridge and went through IdeasLab, the best accelerator for students in Ukraine, I was still in school and preparing for the NMT, with 27 hours of tutors a week. Right before the IdeasLab pitch day we had a 5-day hackathon. Not only did we prepare our pitch, we also rolled out a fresh update for Bridge. During my pitch the presentation suddenly jumped to slide 7: Figma Slides might not be the best idea when you’re presenting live. Lesson learned: always test your setup. Everyone liked the idea of a national messenger. It didn’t work out because we were kids: little experience, and not enough money to grow it. ### Shut it down when it cost more than we could carry About six months before we closed, I could see the team falling apart: too many conflicts. Keeping the product running, mostly development and hosting, cost more than we could carry. What I learned: how to build a startup, how to make a pitch deck, how to manage a team, and how to build a product that a lot of people actually use. ### Written by me - IdeasLab pitch day, and a presentation that jumped to slide 7 (https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7325173107017601030/) ### Written about in - University of Notre Dame: Race to Revenue culminates in Demo Day (https://research.nd.edu/news-and-events/news/notre-dames-seventh-edition-of-race-to-revenue-culminates-in-demo-day-a-celebration-of-student-and-alumni-entrepreneurship/) - Lviv Business School: Ukrainian student startups on the global stage: IdeasLab at Notre Dame (https://lvbs.com.ua/en/news/ukrainian-student-startups-on-the-global-stage-ideaslab-s-visit-to-the-university-of-notre-dame-usa/) - dev.ua: Lviv IT specialists built a rival to Telegram, WhatsApp and Signal (https://dev.ua/en/news/bridge-1738567466) - Detector Media: Bridge, a messenger that works at low internet speed (https://ms.detector.media/sotsmerezhi/post/37464/2025-02-07-aytivtsi-zi-lvova-rozrobyly-mesendzher-bridge-shcho-pratsyuie-za-nyzkoi-shvydkosti-internetu/) - RBC-Ukraine: A rival to Telegram and WhatsApp that works with poor internet (https://styler.rbc.ua/rus/zhizn/ukrayini-stvorili-konkurenta-telegram-i-whatsapp-1738937490.html) - hi-tech.ua: Bridge messenger, an alternative to Telegram, shown in Ukraine (https://hi-tech.ua/en/bridge-messenger-an-alternative-to-telegram-was-shown-in-ukraine/) - Highload.tech: Lviv IT specialists unveil a Telegram rival (https://highload.tech/uk/lvivski-ajtivtsi-predstavyly-konkurenta-telegram-mesendzher-bridge/) - ShoTam: A messenger that works during power outages (https://shotam.info/chotyry-rozrobnyky-zi-lvova-stvoryly-mesendzher-bridge-yoho-funktsional/) ### Team - Co-CEO: Ivan Yarema - Co-founder and CPO: Volodymyr Shpodarunok - CTO: Volodymyr Hryniv - CIO: Ihor Kharkholiuk ## UKnow — Managing director, KidsKonnect Ukraine · 2026 to now Page: https://volodymyr.buzz/p/uknow A youth voice platform for decisions made about young people without them: a podcast, a game and a merch line. - Industry: Youth media · Nonprofit - What I did: Team management, Game concept, Podcast direction, Partnerships, Merch - 10+: people on the team I lead - 6: episodes planned for season one - 1: pilot recorded - 18: teen applicants cast - Link: https://uknow.etherlynx.xyz ### Became managing director by helping at Project Oxygen At Project Oxygen I talked to everyone who was running the programme and helped as much as I could. Because of that they invited me to host the podcast. Then I joined the other things they wanted to build, and that’s how I became managing director. The team is 10+ people, mostly teenagers. ### Built PASS myself: nobody scores until everybody touches PASS came out of analysis. I built it myself with the help of AI. To score, the ball has to go through everyone on the floor, including the person you would rather skip. Now we’re looking for a key partner. ### Running the podcast from pilot to launch I cast season one from 18 real teen applicants. The concept is Kathleen’s. We’ve recorded one pilot episode, and we start recording and launching the rest in October. Season one is about the under-16 social media ban. Next, we’re planning a podcast with the Pope. ### The hardest note: the mission was too subtle The game went through several concepts before PASS. The hardest feedback came from Kathleen: a peace-building game made by Ukrainians during the war can’t be subtle and theoretical, the mission has to be overt. So in PASS the message is the win condition itself: you can’t score until the ball has gone through everyone. ### A merch line that carries the position ERROR 416: the web’s own error code for “range not satisfiable”, worn by the age range that keeps being left out. Pre-order mockups; nothing is printed yet. What I learned: how to manage a team, how to work with people with different mentalities, how to build a podcast, and how to direct. ### Team - Managing director: Volodymyr Shpodarunok - Chair, KidsKonnect Ukraine: Kathleen Hessert - COO: Olena - Podcast executive producer: Anna ## Etherlynx — Founder · 2025 to now Page: https://volodymyr.buzz/p/etherlynx My AI studio: product films without a shoot, automation, websites and brands. - Industry: AI studio · Services - What I did: AI video, Automation, Web design, Branding, Client work - 2025: first clients - Eurosatory: defence promo shown there in 2026 - 11: clients and products - 3: regions: Ukraine, Europe, the US - Link: https://etherlynx.xyz ### Started taking clients in 2025 and did most of it myself I started taking clients in 2025. Mostly I did everything myself. The exception is Tvoie Misto, a Lviv newsroom: we did it as a team of four, and I did the branding and the web design. ### Client projects across Ukraine, Europe and the US Websites, brands, social media systems and AI film for developers, consultants, media, health-tech, defence and consumer brands. Some of the work is under NDA. NMT.academy and UKnow, the companies I run myself, were built in the same studio. ### Made ads and films without a shoot About 10 UGC videos for a health-tech brand: with real people, with doctors recreated by AI together with their voices, and a Pixar-style promo for the US Independence Day. The most interesting project was for a defence manufacturer, under NDA. What I learned: not to overthink every client idea, and to listen to other people. ### Team - Founder: Volodymyr Shpodarunok ## Project Oxygen — Youth advisory board · Rome, June 2026 Page: https://volodymyr.buzz/p/project-oxygen A week in Rome and the Vatican with 40 teenagers from conflict zones, designing peace-building projects for our own communities. - Industry: Peacebuilding · Youth programme - What I did: Youth advisory board, Ambassador, Programme support - 40: teenagers from conflict zones - ~300: applied - 12: countries > "It was more than my pleasure to launch Project Oxygen. It has become a mission to lift up the voices of teens like you, Volo, and our 39 other delegates. Now it’s your turn to transform a moment in Rome into a worldwide movement for peace." — Kathleen Hessert, Founder, Project Oxygen and KidsKonnect Ukraine > "You are a special guy. I know you will build peace & connection throughout your life. Thank you for being an ambassador." — Taylor Thigpen, CEO, Taylored Global; Notre Dame Global Affairs > "Reading your sharp, empathetic synopsis about the benefits of Project Oxygen reaffirms my commitment to it. As I read through your own CV, it’s also clear that you and your O2 peers are already leading the way together now." — Lana McGilvray, Founder and CEO, Purpose Worldwide ### From Pope Leo’s General Audience to a closing ceremony I represented a youth advisory board: 40 teenagers from conflict zones around the world, brought together to design peace-building projects for our own communities. The week ran from Pope Leo’s General Audience to a closing ceremony in front of Vatican representatives, ambassadors and government leaders. I helped with the programme itself and was its ambassador. UKnow grew out of that week. ### Where my own toolkit came in I helped two visual artists with the AI side of their craft: Jeremy Cowart, who has photographed everyone from Taylor Swift to U.S. presidents and founded Help-Portrait, and Hunter Buchanan, a cinematographer whose work spans brands like Marshmello and Staples. Together they ran a portrait session for our group that will be exhibited around the world. ### What I’m still thinking about AI without the hype. Nuno Moritz’s session was sharp and unsentimental about where the technology actually creates leverage. As someone building adaptive learning systems, I appreciated hearing it framed by impact rather than buzzwords. The economics of peace. Strip productive capacity out of a community and you get a chain that ends in conflict: lost opportunity, anxiety, mistrust, resentment, war. The answer is local, community-based manufacturing, not mega-plants that lift one city and gut another. I came in as a founder from Ukraine. I left more certain that peace, like a product, is something you build: deliberately, locally, and with people. ### Written by me - Project Oxygen: peace, like a product, is something you build (https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7468434786626224128/) ### Team - Founder, KidsKonnect Ukraine: Kathleen Hessert - Notre Dame Global Affairs: Taylor Thigpen - Youth advisory board: Volodymyr Shpodarunok ## Client work and other products Full list with filters: https://volodymyr.buzz/work - **NMT.academy** (My own product, Education, 2024; Product, Brand, Website): Adaptive exam-prep platform. 163 students, 80 paid. My own company: concept, business model and brand. https://volodymyr.buzz/p/nmt-academy - **Defence & industrial** (Client work, Defence, 2026; AI film): Promo video and AI product shots for defence and industrial manufacturers. One of the films was shown at Eurosatory 2026, the world’s largest defence exhibition. The work is under NDA, so details stay private. https://volodymyr.buzz/w/defence - **UKnow** (My own product, Nonprofit, 2026; Brand, Website, Product): Youth voice platform: a podcast, a game and a merch line. I run it as managing director with a team of 10+. https://volodymyr.buzz/p/uknow - **Bridge** (My own product, Consumer app, 2024; Product, Brand): A messenger for blackouts. 7,700 users. Co-founded while still in school. https://volodymyr.buzz/p/bridge - **Aurea** (Client work, Real estate, 2026; Brand positioning, Vision, Logo, Brand guidelines, Website from scratch, Presentation templates, Automated post and content generation, Competitor research and analytics): Developer of hotels, resorts and residences behind Adriatic Star in Montenegro. I did the whole job of a brand designer: positioning, vision, logo, brand guidelines and the website from scratch, in Ukrainian and English. On top of that, templates for client-project decks and other presentations, and automation: posts and content are generated automatically, plus full research and analytics of competitors. https://volodymyr.buzz/w/aurea - **Project Oxygen** (Client work, Nonprofit, 2026; Website; In progress): Site for the KidsKonnect Ukraine youth peace summit in Rome. Eight pages: the Rome 2026 week, the alliance that came out of it, applications for the next cohort, press and support. https://volodymyr.buzz/w/oxygen - **Taylored Global** (Client work, Consulting, 2026; Website redesign; In progress): Redesign of the site for Taylor Thigpen: strategy, funding and partnerships across four continents. I only do the website redesign. We are agreeing on the details now, and then I finish it. https://volodymyr.buzz/w/tayloredglobal - **Tvoie Misto** (Client work, Media, 2025; Brand redesign, Website redesign): Rebrand and website of a Lviv city newsroom. A full redesign of the brand and a redesign of the website, done as a team of four. https://volodymyr.buzz/w/tvoie-misto - **Inviah** (Client work, Health tech, 2026; UGC with real people, AI doctors with their own voices, Pixar-style promo): UGC content for a health-tech company: about 10 videos of different types. UGC with real people, doctors fully recreated with AI together with their voices, and a Pixar-style cartoon promo for the US Independence Day. https://volodymyr.buzz/w/inviah - **PAVLIV.** (Client work, Marketing, 2026; Social): Carousel system for a Ukrainian digital marketing agency. Built on the agency’s real red-and-black brand: a profile grid and a set of carousel formats the team fills from a brief. https://volodymyr.buzz/w/pavliv - **Polynex** (Client work, Consumer goods, 2026; Website, Automation): Edible cutlery: spoons that are 100% plant-based and actually taste good. I joined the team to build their automation and their website. Together we applied with it to a programme. https://volodymyr.buzz/w/polynex