Maincast and NAVI: how Maxim Krippa came to invest in esports

The fateful zeroes

Let's go back to the noughties for a moment. Back then, it's hard to believe, not everyone had computers and good Internet access. And computers capable of playing serious games were rare. That's why future esportsmen, who were just amateurs at the time, gathered in computer clubs.

The deficit is not always bad, sometimes it creates the preconditions for the formation of a new one. As you know, esports fans are mostly introverts who are not devoid of excitement, but do not want to leave home and plunge into the noisy and crowded atmosphere of classic sports. In the noughties, it would have been difficult for them to find each other, but the need to go to computer clubs created the conditions for the emergence of a closed esports community and first teams.

In this sense, the history of the founders of Maincast and NAVI is illustrative. Vitaliy V1lat Volochai, a future legendary commentator, and Oleksandr ZeroGravity, a future professional esports player, spent a lot of time in computer clubs, where their professional and business activities began.

History of Maincast creation

Vitaliy Volochay was one of the first people in Ukraine to come up with the idea of creating a company that would specialize in broadcasting and commentary of esports games. After working for Kyiv Esports Arena, a company that organized tournaments, Volochai decided to create his own broadcast studio, RuHub, in 2013.

At that time, there were already two large hubs in the world that united commentators of cyber sports matches: the American USHub and the Swedish EUHub. The Kiev studio was created by analogy with them, and its name was based not on country affiliation, but on a reference to the commentary language - Russian.

At that time, there were already two major hubs in the world that brought together commentators of esports matches: the American USHub and the Swedish EUHub. By analogy with them, a Kyiv studio was created, the name of which was based not on country affiliation but on a reference to the language of commentary - Russian.

In 2018, Vitaliy Volochai and his three partners founded Maincast in Kyiv. But despite the fact that they had the equipment and experience, they did not have enough money to run the business properly. It is known that companies that specialize in broadcasting spend most of their money not on hardware but on buying rights to broadcast championships and matches.

Having entered the market in search of the right guy, the partners turned their attention to Ukrainian entrepreneur Maxim Krippa. Until then, he did not really know about esports and did not analyze the prospects and opportunities. However, persistent appeals from the founders of Maincast forced the investor to analyze the proposals and invest. After two months of negotiations, Maxim Krippa became a shareholder.

History of NAVI creation

The history of another Ukrainian esports giant was developing in parallel with Maincast. Oleksandr Kokhanovskyi became interested in computer games back in 1994, when the first computer appeared. He became an esportsman in 2000. But playing at the level of local tournaments was not enough.

In 2009, philanthropist Murat Tulemaghanbetov decided to create a professional esports organization, and Oleksandr Kokhanovskyi became the captain and founder of the first NAVI Counter-Strike team. In 2011, NAVI set sail for free: Kokhanovsky became its CEO, and in 2017 he became the owner. In 2018, the question arose of seeking investment.

It was 2018 that became the point at which Maincast, NAVI, and Maxim Krippa came together. After the first successful pass to the investor by Maincast, the esports organization NAVI was created. The second step of the investor was not long in coming - Maxim Krippa made a decision and became the majority owner of NAVI.

Current state of affairs

Having decided to invest in esports, Maxim Krippa continues to move in this direction. Today, he is a co-owner of Maincast and the owner of NAVI. Krippa acquired the latter in the summer of 2022, after fulfilling a number of obligations under an agreement that was concluded several years earlier.