Denis, originally from Moscow, began his career in sales at Google, followed by roles at Mars Inc. in e-commerce. “I’ve always had a passion for cooking and food culture. McDonald’s fascinated me with its efficiency, branding, and success. That led me to Dodo Pizza, a fastgrowing chain where I helped scale the business from 80 stores in Russia to over 1,000 across 25 countries.”

While working at these large corporations, it became clear that the pace and independence of entrepreneurship were more appealing. “I had a business idea, and incubator Antler, based in Amsterdam, provided funding and support. In 2022 I decided to start a new chapter in the Netherlands by founding getplace.io. We want to give restaurants the insights they need to succeed. Our data-driven tools assist small and medium-sized businesses in selecting optimal locations, benchmarking performance, and understanding market trends. We also address challenges such as choosing the best location for a new store and maximizing profit from delivery platforms. Over 400 clients from the U.S., UK, Spain, Poland, Bulgaria, Turkey, UAE, Qatar, Indonesia, and Georgia have benefited from our services.”

Integration into Dutch society has been a gradual process, especially without fluency in the language. Housing proved to be another significant challenge due to high costs and income requirements for renting, which startups often can’t provide. Despite facing these challenges, Denis is still grateful for the opportunities he has taken. His advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is simple: “Be ready to adapt. Your initial ideas will likely change drastically once you start getting feedback from the market. Flexibility and speed are key. Launch quickly, iterate often, and evolve based on customer needs. Over the past two years, getplace.io’s approach has been refined multiple times. This adaptability has been essential for continued progress. Our focus is now on scaling, with an emphasis on automating analytics services to provide even more value to restaurants. With the right investment, growth can be accelerated, making a larger impact in the industry.”