Arsen Tomsky (

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: Арсе́н Тóмский; born 20 November 1973) is an entrepreneur, public figure, and the founder and CEO of the international

ride-hailing A ridesharing company (or ridehailing service) is a company (or service offered by a company) that, via websites and mobile apps, matches passengers with drivers of vehicles for hire that, unlike taxis, cannot legally be hailed from the street. ...

service inDrive.

Early life

Arsen Tomsky was born on 20 November 1973 in

Yakutsk Yakutsk ( ) is the capital and largest city of Sakha, Russia, located about south of the Arctic Circle. Fueled by the mining industry, Yakutsk has become one of Russia's most rapidly growing regional cities, with a population of 355,443 at the ...

, Republic of Saha. In 1994, Tomsky began his entrepreneurial journey by developing

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

. He initially created a system for analyzing the financial condition of banks, followed by an automated accounting program commissioned by the local Ministry of Finance. The following year, he graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics at North-Eastern Federal University. In 1999, Tomsky founded the company SakhaInternet, which later became the Sinet Group, and launched the website Ykt.ru. After serving as CEO of the Sinet Group for 20 years, he stepped down, transferring the company's shares to the Ykt.ru team.

Career

In 2013, Tomsky founded inDriver (Independent Drivers). Initially launched as a passenger transportation service, the company later expanded to include freight transportation, intercity travel, courier services, and city-based services. Six years later, inDriver achieved unicorn status following a $150 million investment round. That same year, Tomsky attended the Stanford Executive Program at the

Stanford Graduate School of Business The Stanford Graduate School of Business is the Postgraduate education, graduate business school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it has been the most selective ...

. In 2022, following Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, Tomsky made the decision to completely relocate inDrive's employees from the country. The company was also rebranded as inDrive (Inner Drive). In 2023, inDrive became the second most downloaded ride-hailing app and the fourth most downloaded travel app globally. Tomsky invested approximately $5 million of his own funds, accumulated during his time building the largest internet company in Yakutia, into the app's development. At the end of the same year, Arsen Tomsky announced that he would receive Kazakh citizenship at the invitation of the government of

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. In May 2024, Tomsky ranked 10th on

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

magazine's list of "The 75 Richest Businessmen in Kazakhstan".

Non-profit activities

Since 2012, the non-profit educational project Beginit has been operating under Tomsky's patronage, initially known as BeginIT, which taught the basics of programming to children from remote rural schools and orphanages. As of 2022, the project reached over 120 schools and orphanages in 13 countries. In 2023, the program evolved into Beginit, focusing on developing social leadership in youth from remote communities. The Sinet Spark project fund began operating in 2020, with its budget supported by several sources, including Tomsky's personal contributions. In 2021, Sinet Spark provided financial assistance to combat forest fires in Yakutia. Subsequently, the organization launched a project to study the causes of these fires and reduce their occurrence, not only in Yakutia but around the world. Also in 2020, Tomsky launched the non-profit Star Team program, aimed at helping schoolchildren and students gain admission to the best universities in the world. In November 2021, the entrepreneur announced the launch of the Supernovas non-profit football project. The project identifies individuals who wish to become coaches and helps them establish football schools for children in small towns within their local areas. All football lessons are free of charge, with the coaches' work funded by Supernovas. Currently, Supernovas operates in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Colombia, Chile, and Kazakhstan. On Tomsky's initiative, the Alternativa Film Awards were launched in 2023 as a global non-profit initiative aimed at supporting emerging filmmakers from Asia. The award focuses on socially significant films, with the jury evaluating works not only for their artistic qualities but also for their relevance to society. Another of Tomsky's initiatives is the creation of an innovative startup called FluentaAI, designed to help people with a stutter. This software converts their whispers into natural speech without stuttering during online calls. As a result, FluentaAI has been integrated with video conferencing apps.

References

Living people Yakut people 1973 births North-Eastern Federal University alumni Russian computer scientists Russian technology company founders Russian chief executives 21st-century Russian businesspeople Kazakhstani businesspeople {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomsky, Arsen Year of birth missing (living people)