# Ivan Smolnikov

> Ivan Smolnikov is the founder and CEO of Smartcat, an AI-powered language and content platform used by more than 1,000 corporate customers, including roughly 20% of the Fortune 500. A physicist by training, he co-founded ABBYY Language Solutions in 2004 and led it for over a decade before spinning out Smartcat as an independent company in 2016 to replace the slow, manual translation-agency model with software. He is building toward a future of work where human experts collaborate with AI teammates to unlock large productivity gains for global enterprises.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Smartcat
- **Organizations:** Smartcat, ABBYY Language Solutions, Fiber Optics Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences
- **Nationality:** Russian
- **Education:** M.Sc. in Physics and Applied Physics & Mathematics, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT)
- **Known for:** Built ABBYY Language Solutions into one of the world's top 50 language service providers, Founded Smartcat and grew it to more than 1,000 corporate customers, Smartcat is used by roughly 20% of the Fortune 500

## Career timeline

- **pre-2004** — Scientist at the Fiber Optics Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences
- **2004** — Co-founded ABBYY Language Solutions (ABBYY LS)
- **2004-2016** — CEO of ABBYY LS, growing it into a top 50 global language service provider
- **2013** — Initiated Smartcat as an internal project inside ABBYY LS
- **2016** — Spun off Smartcat as an independent company and became founder & CEO
- **2018** — Smartcat raised a Series A round (~$7M)
- **2024** — Smartcat raised a $43M Series C led by Left Lane Capital

## Achievements

- Built ABBYY Language Solutions into one of the world's top 50 language service providers
- Founded Smartcat and grew it to more than 1,000 corporate customers
- Smartcat is used by roughly 20% of the Fortune 500
- Grew Smartcat revenue to about $44.8M in 2024 (up from $29.1M in 2023)
- Raised roughly $70M in total funding across Series A through Series C

## Latest updates

- **2024-09** — Smartcat raised a $43M Series C led by Left Lane Capital to expand its enterprise language-AI platform.
- **2024** — Smartcat reported roughly $44.8M in revenue, up from $29.1M the prior year.

## Links

- Website: https://www.smartcat.com/authors/ivan_smolnikov/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivan-smolnikov/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/SmartCATpro
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smartcatpro

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ivan-smolnikov
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-16