Студия Олега Чулакова

What Студия Олега Чулакова does

Студия Олега Чулакова (Chulakov) is a Russian digital design and UX research agency founded in 2009 by Oleg Chulakov and headquartered in Rostov-on-Don with a sales office in Moscow. The firm serves large enterprise clients — primarily banks, telecoms, retailers, and game developers — with full-cycle UX/UI design, UX research, web and mobile development, and ongoing design support. Named customers include VTB, Sber, Tinkoff (T-Bank), Tele2, Rosbank, Bank Center-Invest, Gazprombank, Alfa-Bank, Emirates NBD, re:Store, Rostic's, Papa John's, Playkot, Axlebolt, MSTU Bauman, the Tinkov Family Foundation, and ecom.tech.

The studio operates a multi-product ecosystem: (1) core design and development services grounded in the founder's proprietary "Emotional Design" (Дизайн для людей) philosophy and a "Data Driven Design" (DDD) methodology combining CJM, eye-tracking, A/B testing, and in-depth interviews; (2) Chulakov Research — an in-house analytical center that has run 62+ user motivation studies, 54+ fintech trend studies, 43+ banking product studies, 32+ Russian fintech reports, and 18+ international reports; (3) SnapBuild, a proprietary SaaS website-generation platform built on a corporate design system; (4) Очень by Chulakov (Ochen), a design-support sub-brand ranked #1 in Russia; and (5) Chulakov School, an in-house education and talent-pipeline arm. Technical stack spans Next.js, React, React Native, TypeScript, Vue.js, PHP/Yii 2, Swift, MariaDB, Elasticsearch, Docker, and eye-tracking ML pipelines; integrations include OpenLDAP, CAS SSO, and REST APIs.

Chulakov generates revenue primarily through project-based professional services engagements, with disclosed per-project budgets spanning under 1 million to over 50 million rubles and multi-year retainers with anchor clients such as Sber (since 2020) and Playkot (since 2017). A secondary recurring stream comes from SnapBuild subscriptions. Go-to-market is enterprise sales-led with a brief-based inbound channel, supplemented by event-driven demand generation through owned meetups (Design Meetups, CX Meetups, Design Battles) and conference partnerships (Merge, Design-vykhodnye, Digital-Ottepely). The firm is privately held, bootstrapped with no disclosed external funding, and holds ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certifications.

Name

Студия Олега Чулакова

Legal name

Студия Олега Чулакова

Website

https://chulakov.ru

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Chulakov Studio is a leading Russian digital design and UX research agency, founded in 2009 by Oleg Chulakov, specializing in fintech UX/UI design, emotional design methodology, and proprietary products for enterprise clients including banks, telecoms, retailers, and game developers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Rostov-on-Don

HQ country

Russia

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Digital Design Services: Custom UX/UI design for web and mobile applications, corporate websites, and digital products for enterprise clients including banks, telecoms, retailers, and game developers. Revenue is generated through project-based engagements with defined scopes.
2. Web and Mobile Development: Frontend and backend development services including React/Next.js web applications, React Native mobile apps, and PHP-based solutions. Billed as part of integrated digital product projects.
3. UX Research and Analytics: Analytical research services including UX audits, user interviews, eye-tracking studies, benchmarking reports, and monthly banking sector reports. Available both as standalone consulting engagements and bundled with design projects.
4. SnapBuild Platform: The company's own SaaS product for website generation based on a corporate design system. Generates recurring revenue from subscriptions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Chulakov is a full-service digital design studio that delivers UX/UI design, web and mobile application development, and dedicated UX research and analytics for large enterprise clients, with deep specialization in fintech and banking. It also operates Chulakov Research, an in-house analytical center publishing monthly banking reports and benchmarks, and SnapBuild, a proprietary SaaS tool for generating websites from a corporate design system.

Product overview

Студия Олега Чулакова (Chulakov) is a leading Russian digital design studio offering a unified portfolio centered on UX/UI design for fintech, an in-house analytical division (Chulakov Research), proprietary products, and an education arm. The core offering is Chulakov Design Services — a full-cycle design studio specializing in emotional design and Data Driven Design for financial services and applications. The studio's proprietary product is SnapBuild, a website generation service built on a corporate design system. Supporting offerings include Chulakov Research (UX analytics, fintech-focused research reports, and the 'Researchers' podcast), Ochen by Chulakov (design support sub-brand ranked #1 in Russia), Chulakov School (in-house education), and client-built products such as the 24AI marketplace image generation tool and the EdLock English learning app. Together these form an ecosystem spanning design services, analytics, proprietary tooling, and education.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Chulakov Research: Analytics center with focus on fintech, conducting UX research and banking industry analysis.
• Chulakov School
• Очень by Chulakov
• Снэпбилд (Snapbuild)

Products and services

• Chulakov Design Services (Дизайн интерфейсов) Full-cycle UX/UI design services for web, mobile, and kiosk digital products, with specialization in fintech and the studio's proprietary Emotional Design philosophy anchored on functions, convenience, and emotions. Sold as project-based engagements to enterprise clients.
• Chulakov Research Analytical center offering UX research, UX audits, eye-tracking studies, user interviews, A/B testing, benchmarking reports, and monthly banking sector reports. Available both as standalone consulting engagements and bundled with design projects.
• SnapBuild (Снэпбилд) Proprietary SaaS tool for generating websites automatically from a corporate design system, sold on a subscription basis to clients who need standardized website creation at scale.
• Очень by Chulakov (Дизайн-поддержка) Ongoing design-support sub-brand offering creative production, banner and promo design, and continuous product improvement for enterprise clients, generating recurring revenue beyond one-off projects.
• Chulakov School (Школа Chulakov) Educational division of the studio that teaches design and development courses to external students and functions as a recruitment pipeline for the studio.
• Monthly Banking Reports Monthly published analytical reports on the Russian and international banking app landscape, providing benchmarking and trend insights to fintech product teams.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4x increase in average monthly visitors for VTB career site after redesign
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers22 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability6 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• 24AIminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerChulakov collaborated with 24AI to redesign the AI-powered product image generation service for marketplaces. The project analyzed target audience needs and updated the service to improve conversion from 4% to 20% in paid subscriptions.
• ecom.tech (ex-Samokat.tech)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing collaboration on UX research including web/app comparative studies, gamification analysis, and ResearchOps practices. ecom.tech and Chulakov jointly publish research insights and speak at industry events.
• Design-vykhodnye (Design Weekends)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerChulakov was a partner of the Design-vykhodnye 2025 conference in Kazan, organizing its own 'Unique Solutions in Design' section with 800+ attendees. Also hosted a Design Battle with top designers.
• Merge (Innopolis IT Conference)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerChulakov became a partner of the largest regional IT conference Merge. The development team organized its own AI & ML section featuring speakers from Cyberrazvedka, Sber, Cian, Domclick, Nexign, and internal experts.
• Digital-Ottepely (Digital Thaw)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Очень by Chulakov team organized a 'Creativity and Design' section at the Digital-Ottepely annual marketing conference in Nizhny Novgorod, bringing together art directors and design leaders from major Russian companies.
• Gazprom Neft (Gazprom Neft)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGazprom Neft and Chulakov collaborate on UX research including podcast episodes of 'ReSEARCHERS', event participation at Design-vykhodnye, and digital art projects with media artists.
• SPbGETU LETI (St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for CX Meetups. University scientists and Chulakov jointly present research on computer vision, industrial automation, and AI at Chulakov-organized events.
• Skolkovo Center for Applied Artificial IntelligenceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerChulakov CX Meetup featured a professor from Skolkovo's Center for Applied AI who presented on AI errors and risks at the event organized by Chulakov.
• Chulakov SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChulakov's own educational division teaching design and development. Instructors are Chulakov specialists. The school also serves as a talent pipeline for the company.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• WildJam: Russian branding and design agency with significant enterprise work. Comparable to Chulakov on brand-led design offering and Russian enterprise client base.
• Art. Lebedev Studio: Russia's most iconic design studio, offering branding, web, and interface design for enterprise clients. Directly comparable to Chulakov as a Russia-based, founder-led design agency serving enterprise and government clients with similar award-led brand positioning.
• UsabilityLab: Russian UX research and design agency with strong research practice, similar to Chulakov Research. Directly comparable on services offered (UX audits, user research, design support) and on its positioning as a research-led design firm for Russian enterprise.
• Aitarget: Russian digital design and development agency working with enterprise and consumer clients. Directly comparable on the mix of digital product design, web, and brand work for Russian enterprise.
• AGIMA: Major Russian digital-product design and development agency covering web, mobile, and enterprise platforms. Comparable to Chulakov in serving banks, telecoms, and large enterprises with integrated design-plus-development engagements.
• Redmadrobot: Russian mobile-app design and development studio serving enterprise and fintech clients. Closely comparable to Chulakov on mobile UX/UI focus, fintech client base, and integrated design-plus-development delivery model.

Emerging players

• IDEO: Global design and innovation firm known for human-centered design. Comparable on a research-driven, methodology-led approach to digital product design, though IDEO operates at global enterprise/strategic level rather than a regional design-services model.
• Frog Design: Global design and strategy consultancy (frog, part of Capgemini Invent). Comparable on the integrated research-plus-design-plus-strategy offering for enterprise clients, though frog typically operates at larger deal sizes and global multinational accounts.

Broad incumbents

• Wix.com: Global website building platform. Broad-incumbent peer because SnapBuild's design-system-driven site generation overlaps with Wix's template-to-website value proposition, though at much smaller scale and with design-agency-grade customization focus.
• Webflow: Global no-code website platform with strong design-system capabilities. Broad-incumbent peer relevant because Chulakov's SnapBuild product competes in the same design-system-to-website value space, though Webflow operates at vastly greater scale globally.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/%D1%81%D1%82%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%8F-%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%B0-%D1%87%D1%83%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

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