Origin: Voronezh, Russia

Based in: Moscow, Russia

Education: Moscow State University, Faculty of Physics

Occupation: CEO & Founder, Netmonet

Georgy Vysotsky is a rising star in the Russian community of entrepreneurs. At just 24 years old, he founded a company which revolutionised tip payments in restaurants and other services in Russia. Netmonet allows customers to pay a tip to their waiter, barber, or manicurist by scanning a QR code tipping with a card, removing the need for carrying cash. In Russia, one of the global leaders in the adoption of cashless transactions, Vysotky’s startup emerged exactly at the right time.

Vysotsky was born in the provincial town of Voronezh,  500 km from Moscow, to an ordinary Russian family. Achieving good results at school and being particularly proficient in sciences, he was accepted to study physics at Russia’s most prestigious Moscow State University – an opportunity that many Russian teenagers dream of. However, prospects of a technical or academic career did not attract Vysotsky, leading him to pursue a corporate career. Before graduating, he had already secured an internship at McKinsey & Co, one of the most prestigious management consultancies.

At McKinsey, Vysotsky followed a standard career progression, becoming a senior business analyst in just under two years. At this time, the idea of Netmonet emerged. As Vysotsky recalls, the nature of consulting work meant he would often eat out with clients or colleagues. Yet very rarely would they carry cash to tip the waiters. As it is not customary for restaurants to include a service charge in Russia, and for many waiters, tips make up a large proportion of their income, it is a common practice to tip waiters directly in cash. However, as Russia becomes one of the global leaders in cashless and contactless payments, with 76 percent of everyday purchases paid by card, it became increasingly difficult to tip workers in the services industry.

Netmonet solves this challenge by partnering with restaurants, beauty salons, and other service providers directly and introducing a QR code into the bill. A customer can then use it to make a cashless tip payment. Vysotsky confesses that to sign on their first clients, he would go around hundreds of restaurants himself.

The initial implementation of the service began in 2019 and fared well with the first clients. By the end of 2019, Netmonet was present in 300 restaurants in Moscow. However, the biggest challenge emerged as the coronavirus pandemic forced all restaurants to close for several months. The first external investment brought in at the end of 2019 helped to keep the startup afloat. After months of using his personal savings, Vysotsky gave up almost 50% of the company to get 10 million rubles of investment, which subsequently helped the project to expand.

As Russia emerged from the pandemic, Netmonet began its rapid growth which continues to date. Throughout 2020, over 250 million rubles ($3.5 million) of tips were paid through the service. While not yet profitable, it has expanded beyond restaurants and beyond Moscow and is now present in almost all Russian regions.

At the beginning of 2021, an important milestone occurred for Vysotsky and his startup. One of Russia’s largest banks, Alfa Bank, offered to buy Netmonet, valued at $4-8 million. With little hesitation, Vysotsky agreed to the purchase. The acquisition allowed the company to expand more rapidly, using the bank’s payment infrastructure, as well as access to technologies and engineers. Most importantly, Vysotsky was able to remain as the CEO of Netmonet and continue implementing his vision. He now plans to leverage the opportunities within Alfa Bank. The platform already began offering an opportunity to leave feedback and reviews, and Vysotsky plans to further expand Netmonet’s offering.

Quote: “I worked for a large company and built a successful career as a consultant helping other businesses to operate more efficiently. Then I built this business from scratch: as it turned out, at the most inopportune moment, because we got into COVID-19 and ended up at the bottom. Now the cycle is closing: I am returning to a large company, but with my own business, which needs to be developed, scaled, and made effective. During this cycle, both my role and experience have changed a lot.” (Source: FORBES.RU, 2021)