What is solonin?

Solonin is a Russian technology entrepreneur, investor, and the founder of a number of successful companies including Kukuza Project Inc., Mapbox, and Yandex. He was born on May 10, 1984, in Novosibirsk, Russia, and studied computer science at Novosibirsk State University.

Solonin’s early entrepreneurial ventures include creating an online marketplace for selling goods and services in Russia, which eventually became one of the country’s largest e-commerce platforms. In 2010, he founded Kukuza Project Inc., a company that creates online education tools for children.

In 2011, Solonin co-founded Mapbox, a mapping platform used by companies like Airbnb, Snapchat, and Shopify. He served as Mapbox’s CEO from 2011 to 2016.

Solonin is also an active investor, having invested in companies like Caviar, which allowed users to order food delivery from upscale restaurants; Ozon, a Russian e-commerce platform; and Nanit, a baby video monitor company.

Solonin has been recognized for his achievements in the tech industry, receiving awards like TechCrunch’s Founder of the Year in 2013 and being named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list for Enterprise Technology in 2016.