{"id":1683,"date":"2025-06-23T10:11:34","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T09:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/?p=1683"},"modified":"2025-06-23T10:11:35","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T09:11:35","slug":"andrei-morozov-flare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/eng\/zgodbe-akrobatov\/andrei-morozov-flare\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrei Morozov, Flare"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image blog-plane\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"582\" height=\"85\" src=\"https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/blog-zgodbe-akrobatov-plane.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1526\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/blog-zgodbe-akrobatov-plane.png 582w, https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/blog-zgodbe-akrobatov-plane-300x44.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 582px) 100vw, 582px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Andrei, you and your team are developing Flare - a smart firefly for kids. The app communicates with the flashlight all the time, so we can see where our child is at any time. And for extra safety, the firefly also has an SOS button. It can also automatically tell you when your child arrives at school or back home. Where did the idea come from?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\"I have a curious little sister who once got lost in the park. We were walking along, me kind of lost in my thoughts, when I lost sight of her for a moment. I turned around, but my sister was nowhere to be seen. I called and looked for her, getting more panicky by the minute. I didn't dare call my parents, of course. So I kept looking for her. Well, after 20 minutes I found her. The little one was playing sovereignly in a nearby playground. But it made me think - the little one doesn't have a phone. How could I find her? And the idea of a smart firefly came to me.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>It's a long way from idea to product. At Katapult, we say that an idea is only 1 % of success, a functional prototype is 10 %, a finished product for the market is 50 %, and the rest is sales and marketing. So don't just rely on a good idea, even if it is revolutionary. So - how did your journey from idea to product go?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\"I first approached the 404 Institute to work with them on the technology and the first prototype. After that, I was invited to Creative, where I spent a year learning entrepreneurial skills. Matija Goljar suggested Katapult, saying that for the hardware you can help me the most here. He was right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am not in favour of hardware and never will be. I am more for software. I knew how to do software, not hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The product I have in my hand is the second version for the market, and the seventh version for us in the company. I created a couple of versions myself, and the last two with a brand new team of engineers and programmers, so of course it's better and different from the first.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>What was the hardest thing for you?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\"Marketing and sales, of course. We are all engineers. It's easier to create something, to build an app or a product, and it's not hard at all to lose a few nights. But then how to sell it on - we didn't have the knowledge there, we didn't know how.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>How did you get started then?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\"Basically, we wanted to sell another device first - the Flare Fleet device for cars, which shows you where the car is and what condition it's in with an app. We went on LinkedIN and wrote to the CEOs of various companies asking who would listen to us to pitch this idea. AMZS got in touch and invited me for coffee. I could see straight away that they weren't very interested... They listened very well, gave me some ideas, and then we just parted amicably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, we have noticed that this idea does not hold water. The market interest has not been the best, as cars already have much more modern and powerful devices for this. We left that behind and went back to the smart firefly. We didn't have the money to develop it, so we wrote to everybody for donations to develop it. We raised as much as 2000 euros with an average amount between 50 and 100 euros. Well one of those donors was AMZS, who even offered a grant to develop it further. It was they who ordered the first major series of smart fireflies. From then on, the story started to develop.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>If you were to go down that road again, would you change anything?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\"Of course. The biggest mistake we made, which wasted a year and a half, was that we wanted to develop the product to the end first, then show it to the market. Well, when we showed the market, we noticed that the interest of the market was quite different. Now I would do it differently: sell first, then develop.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>When did you first join the Catapult?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\"Just then, once. We were a bit disappointed because sales were not going well. There was no progress for a year and a half. We were giving up a bit... When we first met Ur\u0161a, she showed us the Catapult. When we saw Chipola, Dewesoft ... and listened to their stories, we got a lot of inspiration. \"See, this can happen to us if we persevere!\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But, honestly, at the time we at Katapult felt like black sheep in the midst of already successful companies. We didn't technically have a company yet, we didn't even have a fully developed product, we really just had an idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Catapult helped us to make an industrial version of our prototype. We had everything still in wires and in the air at that time. So it is to Katapult and Dewesoft that we owe the thanks for the first industrial prototype.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since then, the Catapult has made many key contributions to us. Without you, we couldn't even have had the bigger batches, because at that time we had a production cost of 40 euros a piece, which is quite too much for a product like this. Of course, nobody wanted to resell such an expensive product. Andrej from Dewesoft gave us contacts and information on how to reduce it, where to go, they helped us to get good prices and links... We also used L-tek from Katapult for electronic circuits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, at the beginning you don't have the resources, you don't have the contacts, you don't have the knowledge. We got a lot of that at the Catapult. Without that, we wouldn't have had that second batch, the 500 units that AMZS ordered.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Who's all in the team now?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\"Aiken Tine Ahac is leading the development of the mobile app, where Ga\u0161per Dobrovoljc is also instrumental in the development, Georgy Telelyukhin is the Chief Electronics Engineer and David Zindovi\u010d is leading the online marketing.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>What are your plans for the future?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\"To spread the word, of course. There are already marketing campaigns in Austria and Germany, and some on Amazon.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>But where can we get this firefly?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\"For the time being, it will be available on the AMZS website after the New Year.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>But Andrei, where did this passion for creativity, for entrepreneurship come from? This immense energy that doesn't dry up even when faced with major challenges?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\"I remember from a very young age I wanted to be a superhero who would do something that would benefit the world. That's why I was interested in being a policeman, an FBI agent, some special forces that save the world... Eventually I noticed that I also had computer potential. Why not make use of it? From then on, I wanted to make a company that could do something really good for the world. I don't know, maybe the smart cartoon is one part of it.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;69fdedffe408d&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" data-wp-key=\"69fdedffe408d\" class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1360\" height=\"781\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/flare-andrei-morozov.jpg\" alt=\"flare andrei morozov\" class=\"wp-image-1684\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/flare-andrei-morozov.jpg 1360w, https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/flare-andrei-morozov-300x172.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/flare-andrei-morozov-1024x588.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/flare-andrei-morozov-768x441.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1360px) 100vw, 1360px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\taria-label=\"Enlarge\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.imageButtonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.imageButtonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewbox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You can tell that Andrei Morozov is entrepreneurial and creative, sometimes a little youthfully impatient, as if he wanted to conquer the whole world, just by speaking a few words to him. He says that he is from Russia and has lived in Slovenia for only four years, as an apology for the fact that a Slovene word still escapes him. We learned that President Borut Pahor had awarded him the Youth Startup of the Year award from the media. That Katapult is helping him to develop his smart firefly Flare is something of a well-known fact in this environment. But that he is only 19 years old, having started his startup at 17, is something we whisper about among ourselves as a matter of some curiosity and admiration.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1684,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[35,36,14,9],"class_list":["post-1683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-zgodbe-akrobatov","tag-andrei-morozov","tag-flare","tag-mesto-akrobatov","tag-zgodbe-akrobatov"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/flare-andrei-morozov.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Petra \u0160karja","author_link":"https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/eng\/author\/petras\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1683"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1685,"href":"https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1683\/revisions\/1685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mestoakrobatov.si\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}