Zapal

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Repin Cultural Center

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are the Repin Cultural Center, a memorial art museum of I. Repin dedicated to preserving, researching, and exhibiting the rich historical and cultural heritage of the Kharkiv region, Ukraine based in Chuhuiv, Ukraine.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Zapal to accomplish?

• Urgently migrate fragile archives dated 18th-20th centuries to a secure digital storage to prevent physical destruction from russian attacks in a war zone
• Develop an archive management system to digitize, catalog, and safeguard critical historical documents
• Design a new and modern minimalist brand identity that preserves our historical roots
• Launch a new website and content management system to maintain our public operations and showcase our resilience

SOLUTION

How did you find Zapal?

• Referral
• Tender

Why did you select Zapal over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Zapal were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Zapal stepped in during a truly critical situation for our museum. They immediately understood the urgency of saving our history and worked at an incredible pace to make it happen.

The main things they delivered:

• Digital archive system: They built a secure, separate database for us to rapidly upload, organize, and protect our fragile documents and census records from the 1700s.
• New museum digital branding: They designed a fresh, modern, and minimalist visual identity that still deeply respects our historical roots and original style.
• New website and CMS: They created a beautiful new site to keep our information accessible to the public, along with a simple system for us to update news and events.

Because every day mattered, they delivered the archive system and immediately onboarded us. They sat down with our team to make sure everyone knew exactly how to use the new digital tools right away, allowing us to start saving our documents right away.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

They helped save our heritage.

We successfully digitized and backed up thousands of priceless and fragile documents that were directly threatened by the russian attacks. It allowed us to prevent the biggest problem - the potential loss of all the historical records of our region. These documents are now safe from physical degradation and war of course.

Because the physical archives are now have a full digital copy, our historians and researchers can access these critical documents safely and instantly from anywhere, reducing research time from days to minutes.

New branding and website have given our museum a renewed, modern presence, proving to the academic community that our cultural center remains strong and active despite the attacks.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They were highly organized and fast. They understood the extreme urgency, delivered everything perfectly on time, and were always there to answer all of our questions and support us.

What was your primary form of communication with Zapal?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The most impressive thing was the combination of their high level of design skills and genuine care. They were very supportive throughout the whole process.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Zapal could have done differently?

No areas for improvement at all.

Everything was done perfectly. They exceeded all our expectations and we are thankful for their hard work and support during such a critical time for us.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Commercial Manager of COACH Achats

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We help companies optimize and centralize their purchases acting as department-as-a-service to save money and improve their supply performance.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Zapal to accomplish?

• Develop a complete web platform, CMS, and e-commerce system
• Build a custom eIDAS (QES) compliant document signing tool
• Integrate Stripe for payment processing
• Create a UI/UX web design and video production
• Lower our business running costs

SOLUTION

How did you find Zapal?

B2B services platform

Why did you select Zapal over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost
• Perfect alignment with our requirements

How many teammates from Zapal were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Zapal was our dedicated full-cycle technical provider.

We operate as a «middleware» between providers and customers and our internal workflow requirements were really strict.
Zapal managed the entire project lifecycle from the initial visual concepts to the final secure deployment.

• UI/UX design and video production :
  Zapal created and delivered the complete UI/UX design for both our public website and the internal platform. They handled custom video production to clearly communicate our value proposition to our enterprise clients.
• Platform architecture :
  They created frontend using the Next.js framework. This was paired with fast, embedded SvelteKit landing pages they developed. To support our ongoing operational needs, they also delivered a fully functional CMS and a e-commerce platform.
• Embedded Document Signing Software (eIDAS QES Compliant) :
• This was the most complex and critical deliverable. Zapal team built a white-label document signing software integrated into our architecture with full eIDAS QES support. This tool allows our clients (EU, France) to sign contracts securely and legally. This specific deliverable is what drastically reduced our operational running costs.
  Payment Gateway Integration :
  They seamlessly integrated Stripe into our e-commerce flow.
• Security & Deployment :
  They took full responsibility for the servers management and the security setup. Our systems now are completely stable, safe, and reliable.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The biggest proof of success is the actual business we’ve are running now and the money we’ve saved. Our platform has to be completely reliable and cheap to run, or our business model simply doesn’t work.

What we actually achieved :

• eIDAS compliant signing software gave us the security and professional polish we needed. We were able to land and onboard large contracts with local enterprises of 1000+ employees.
• We now spend just a few thousand euros a year on maintenance and upgrades, which is amazing for a platform of this size !
• Our suppliers and customers are satisfied. The system runs smoothly and without downtime, meaning their own businesses can operate without any issues.
• Our internal team has full confidence in our workflows. Everything works exactly as it should keeping our operational costs as low as possible.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Zapal’s project management was exceptional. They consistently delivered on time and never missed a single milestone so we are very satisfied with their dedicated approach.

We needed a partner who could adapt smoothly and Zapal team did that perfectly.
They were highly responsive to our needs maintaining clear and transparent communication through chat and online meetings.

We always felt perfectly aligned with their team.

What was your primary form of communication with Zapal?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The most impressive was their dedicated team approach and their true commitment to our success.

While they weren’t the cheapest option on the market — which wasn’t what we were looking for anyway — their work was outstanding.

Their proactive and high-quality approach made them worth every penny we invested. We received exceptional value for a very reasonable price.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Zapal could have done differently?

No, everything was perfect.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Сommunications Officer of UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine monitors and publicly reports on the human rights situation in Ukraine. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Zapal to accomplish?

• To fix the bugs that were preventing the website from functioning as it should;
• To amend existing functionality and add new features;
• To provide search engine optimization (SEO) of the website.

SOLUTION

How did you find Zapal?

Referral

Why did you select Zapal over others?

• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Zapal were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The project was delivered in three successive phases. The first phase involved fixing bugs on the existing Drupal-based website and incorporating new changes. Upon completion and successful launch of the website, Zapal provided six months of maintenance services, during which the website's performance was actively monitored. The third phase focused on SEO optimization, which led to a significant improvement in the website’s visibility and performance online.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

1) The stable and fully functional website was launched in time;

2) The SEO optimized pages that are searchable online.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Project management was exceptionally smooth. Communication remained consistent and responsive throughout the duration of the work, and all deliverables were completed on time. We maintained a WhatsApp chat with the Zapal team, which allowed for quick updates and easy exchanges.
At key milestones, we held virtual meetings during which Zapal presented their work and answered questions. These discussions, along with ongoing WhatsApp communication, helped us identify additional tasks and evaluate their necessity and priority.
Zapal also proactively suggested several important improvements that had not been previously considered, which ultimately enhanced the website’s performance.

What was your primary form of communication with Zapal?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

What stood out the most was the team's proactive communication and willingness to go beyond the defined scope of work. They consistently suggested valuable improvements that were not originally part of the project but ultimately contributed to an increase in the website’s performance.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Zapal could have done differently?

The work with Zapal met expectations and we can recommend the team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder and CEO of OYCHA

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

OYCHA is an innovative high-quality tea product, aimed to promote tea culture worldwide.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Zapal to accomplish?

• Increase sales throught our website
• Create a system for sales, accounting, customer relationship, and content management
• Redesign website UI/UX
• Develop a new robust website with modern technologies
• Long-term IT support and consulting

SOLUTION

How did you find Zapal?

• Online Search
• Community

Why did you select Zapal over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned
• Their enthusiasm for innovation

How many teammates from Zapal were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We came to Zapal with our first website created on WordPress with tons of plugins. It was also impossible for us to add one more language on our old website due tech reasons, and as we're growing worldwide - it is a must for us, and Zapal helped us a lot to broaden our market. It was also really slow. So firsly we started our cooperation as just supporting the old platform, but after, Bohdan proposed to create an innovative solution for our Ukrainian market and develop a new platform. He promised it will be flexible, multilingual, fast for our customers, and easier for content management and make new orders processing flow faster. Zapal team also said this solution will be more cost-effective for our business. Also of cource if we started developing something new - we wanted to remain our SEO and other marketing results.

We also had a bit of troubles with ERP, it was too pricey for us to integrate the proprietary ERP. As a result Zapal totally kept their words and promises and created a very fast, flexible and just enourmous platform for us. As an innovative brand we also loved that this new tech solution for retail is innovative, and it worked so well for us, that we're x10 happy about it meeting our goals, while being something new on the market.
What we loved the most - it really turned out to be more cost-effective than our old solution.

After the new oycha.com was delivered - our website's speed grew to like about a second. We neither lost our SEO - but we got significate performance improve, and it is even easier now for our specialist to work with its improvement due to very friendly interface. Now we can not just sale for our B2C, but Zapal created the possiblity for our B2B clients of HoReCa to buy our products in their dedicated account with special prices and etc.

Their team also creared automatized communication flow amoung the sales department and warehouse, which was too pricey to be implemented within our old system.
This lead to our average order processing by our team improving from 6 minutes to 40 seconds per order. Generally, Zapal is our long-term tech partner and we're glad we found this proactive, experienced team for our business. And our further works are continuing and even more improvements and developments to come

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• we got significate performance improvement of our SEO
• the speed of the website is now about a second 
• our content managers can fill-out the content themselves now, as the platform is very user-friendly
• our B2B customers got dedicated account - improving their customer experience 
• we got automated communication amoung the sales department and warehouse, leading to our average order processing by our team improving from 6 minutes to 40 seconds per order. 
• we got oportunity to create website on different languages now
• we got oportunity to have several pages on the website created by ourselves
• we improved our tech costs and can now focus on marketing and sales, while using tech costs not just for support, but for major improvements and innovations

Zapal team not just made a website, but is now leading and constantly improving all the tech in our company: integrations, working with sales and marketing, optimization of processes, etc. This is a high-quality results and top-communications team we needed so much - and we got this long-term sustainable partnership now.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

As far as we saw, their management was excellent.
Every time we had deadlines - Zapal team always delivered on time
As for our needs - they were always not just wanting to develop more, but were giving us good advice on whether we really need to implement that feature now, and helped us to see the real needs of our product

What was your primary form of communication with Zapal?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their unique approach is dedication to our product, as if it was theirs, committing maximum of efforts, ideas and innovative tech solutions

Are there any areas for improvement or something Zapal could have done differently?

No, everything is awesome.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Digital Communications Analyst of UNDP in Ukraine

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Supports Ukraine in the face of war and enhances a fully inclusive, digital and sustainable recovery for Ukraine

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Zapal to accomplish?

• To develop a landing page for a special project between UNDP Ukraine and the Legacy of War Foundation dedicated to the Mine Action Day 2024
• To highlight in a visually appealing format our human stories produced during a project

SOLUTION

How did you find Zapal?

Referral

Why did you select Zapal over others?

• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Zapal were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The main task was to develop the landing page for a special project dedicated to International Mine Awareness and Assistance Day 2024 between UNDP in Ukraine and the Legacy of War Foundation.

Originally it was a photo exhibition "Defining Futures: People, Tech and Teams for a Mine-Free Ukraine" by photographer Giles Duley, UN Global Advocate for people with disabilities in conflict and peacebuilding situations. In this case, we asked to develop a digital version of this project, which was successfully accomplished. Explore more via the link: https://definingfutures.ua.undp.org/en/

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The main outcome was the finished landing page, developed in time and according to the brand guidelines.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

• All items were delivered on time.
• All requests and needs were taken into account.

What was your primary form of communication with Zapal?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The proposed solutions and the communication with the team

Are there any areas for improvement or something Zapal could have done differently?

The overall work with Zapal met expectations.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Co-founder of NGO Ksi Prostir, Project Manager of Ukrainian Decolonial Glossary of Ksi Prostir

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Arts and culture projects, experimental projects, and educational projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Zapal to accomplish?

• Developing website for our project "Ukrainian Decolonial Glossary"
• Building website specifically on the Cargo platform

SOLUTION

How did you find Zapal?

Telegram group

Why did you select Zapal over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned
• Technical skills and pleasant management

How many teammates from Zapal were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We came to the Zapal team with the following request: to develop a site, precisely on the Cargo platform, and there to customize the site based on it.

They successfully closed this request despite the platform limitations. The Zapal developers used custom code, added a newsletter subscription option, bypassed the language switching platform issue, and kept the visual style of the project and managed to make it stylish and utilitarian, which met all our requirements.

Also, the Zapal team literally saved us, because they made the project in a very tight time frame and we managed to implement everything before the official launch. It is also nice that even after development, the team answers and supports us in any technical issues that arise.

The website consists of more than 50 pages in Enlish and Ukrainian language. It's a database of articles which we're planning to continue and add new contributions in the future. The platform also allows us to do changes in the articles on our own.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Website was developed, we recieved great reviews. Also Zapal connected Google Analytics to it and we've got more than 9000 visitors which is a success for us. 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The management is very friendly and always there trying to help. The communication is on a great level, transparent. We always knew what is happening at each stage of the development. We were discussing together project milestones and some things that can be improved. They were very professional and answeared all the questions. The project was delivered on time even though we had a tight deadline. 

What was your primary form of communication with Zapal?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

It's unique that they were so open-minded and focused on social projects and work a lot with NGOs. That was a big plus for us and we felt that they understand our needs. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Zapal could have done differently?

Nothing comes to ming. Everything was great and we truly appreciate their work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Co-founder & CTO of a startup 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a startup company building a secure Web3 platform designed to optimize operations for big data processing vendors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Zapal to accomplish?

• Build a secure, functional MVP for our Web3 platform
• Architect a scalable system capable of supporting heavy data processing
• Integrate decentralized blockchain elements into the core infrastructure
• Deliver a high-quality MVP ready for initial pilot testing with large datasets

SOLUTION

How did you find Zapal?

• Online Search
• Clutch Site

Why did you select Zapal over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Zapal were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Zapal managed the full development cycle of the MVP. To ensure a successful launch, we worked in agile cycles.

Zapal's engineers were highly communicative, helping us prioritize features and refine the technical roadmap so we could deliver exactly what B2B big data companies needed without overcomplicating the initial build.

From an architectural standpoint, they delivered a well optimized and scalable Web3 platform.

They build web UI using SvelteKit framework + TypeScript, so the UI is incredibly fast, accessible and easy to use. It's much faster and easier to use than the most data processing services.

For the core user-facing API and backend they used Nestjs + TypeScript, which provided the strict, scalable foundation.

The most critical deliverables, however, were on the Web3 side. Zapal successfully implemented tokenization technologies for our datasets, allowing data to be secured and verified on-chain.

Their technical execution was the key driver behind our successful MVP launch.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

1. We successfully onboarded 5 large B2B big data companies into our closed beta program within the first month of launch.
2. Zapal delivered production-ready MVP one week ahead of our internal roadmap deadline.
3. The platform passed internal and third-party security audits with zero critical vulnerabilities found in the core tokenization engine.
4. The backend handled over 2 million API requests from our pilot partners in the first month.
5. We maintained an average API response time of under 140ms under heavy load, ensuring seamless data queries for enterprise users.
6. Zapal handed over a highly maintainable codebase with over 80%+ automated test coverage.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Zapal's project management was highly structured, transparent, and highly effective. We used agile with two-week sprints, which provided our product owners with clear visibility into the progress.

They didn't just deliver items on time, they actually completed the full, production-ready MVP a week ahead of our internal deadline.

Their responsiveness was impressive; they participated in daily stand-ups and communicated technical challenges clearly.

What was your primary form of communication with Zapal?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their level of dedication and management skill is entirely unique.
We were assigned a dedicated full-time team that produced high-quality code and maintained excellent, transparent communication.

However, what truly sets Zapal apart is their resilience. The entire Zapal team is based in Ukraine, and despite working through active war conditions and constant bomb shellings, they never missed anything.

It is clear that Zapal invests heavily in their people and their infrastructure, which allows the team to operate with remarkable independence. To deliver such a complex project ahead of schedule under these extreme conditions is nothing short of incredible.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Zapal could have done differently?

Nothing comes to mind, the entire experience was perfect.
I am very grateful for their partnership.

They believed in the success of our product, and I strongly believe in their continued growth and success as a company. They truly deserve it.