Meet the team
behind Forksy
Forksy is a software startup founded by Mike Ushakov and Eugene Molodkin
Mike is a serial entrepreneur and founder of several software companies. He has worked in IT for the last 17 years in various positions including sales, journalism & PR, VC, and CEO. His latest venture, Metabar, was acquired by Yandex (NASDAQ:YNDX) in 2014.
Born to a family of prominent microbiologists and biochemists, Mike has always dreamed of using modern science to augment and enhance human nature. Building Forksy helps Mike fulfill that dream.
Eugene is a software developer with 10 years of software engineering, analytic and data mining experience. Eugene likes surfing, snowboarding, cycling and prefers a very active lifestyle. He is thrilled to work on an AI project, as it has been a goal of his since he was in school.
Our team and advisors
Elena Degtyar, PhD
Lena is a scientist (human microbiology and biochemistry) with over 15 years of experience in research labs in Israel and Germany and a dozen publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals. After leaving the academic world, she became fascinated with nutrition, the psychology of eating, and helping people become healthier and happier. She is a founder of a science-based article database and an author of numerous online nutrition programs for people with various needs and goals.
She sees Forksy as a part of a new wave of personalized nutrition and self-tracking movement, and believes this wave is going to dominate the nutrition coaching market in the coming years.
Masha Formanyuk
Masha is a professional communicator between businesses and humans. From journalism to social media and customer care, her job involves finding an audience’s needs, shaping and delivering the most relevant messages to those audiences. As a tech geek and a recreational athlete, she joined Forksy’s advisor team for both professional and personal passions: technology, healthy living and the fascinating realm of AI chatbots.
Anna Nestrerova
Anna is a strength and conditioning coach, and scientific writer. She had worked in the PR industry for 12 years before switching her career to health, nutrition, and well-being (as there’s nothing more important in our lives). Anna is a qualified sports coach and has taken various courses on nutrition and topics related to physical activity. She has two degrees and is currently working on getting her third in Physiotherapy. Anna is sure that it’s a very simple thing for everyone to manage their health and mind; working on Forksy is her way to prove it.
Zhanna Slootsky
Zhanna is a legal adviser with over 15 years of experience in legal consulting in the field of corporate, commercial, and IT law. Zhanna’s practice includes advising high-tech companies on various aspects of their business activity all over the world. Zhanna likes that Forksy is an effective tool for people who have an intense lifestyle, who never have time to write down or plan their meals, and who may not yet understand how important it is.