Nick Lakhoika, a Belarusian entrepreneur, has transformed his past struggles with communication into a successful venture aimed at helping others. Born in Belarus, Lakhoika faced numerous barriers upon his arrival to Estonia. It was there that he first learned to speak English. His path was not without challenges. He struggled with speaking anxiety and was bullied at school for his unclear diction. These experiences served to crystallize his belief in the power of effective communication.
During the process of searching how to improve, Lakhoika was introduced to vocal coach Maryna “Rusia” Shukiurava. She helped him to learn that communication skills, command of voice, as well as charisma were things that could be developed. Fired up by this new understanding, Lakhoika got to work—and she started Vocal Image. His next startup focused on helping people develop communication and public speaking skills using AI-driven coaching.
Vocal Image has quickly grown in demand, surpassing 160,000 active users. As of August, the company has reached an exceptional $12 million in annual recurring revenue, with about 50,000 paid subscribers. The company has already collected more than 1 million real-voice samples, a rate of about 35,000 recordings per day. This rapid expansion is a testament to Lakhoika’s vision of leveraging technology to solve the very problems he struggled with.
Lakhoika chose Estonia as the home of his business because of the startup-friendly atmosphere there. The country’s supportive ecosystem has contributed to Vocal Image’s rapid development and success. The startup’s novel technology attracted the interest of industry behemoths. Vocal Image recently received accolades as one of the five winners of the European AI Startup Program. This outstanding honor is awarded by Hugging Face, Meta, and Scaleway.
Shortly after, Vocal Image became well-known in the industry. They raised a $3.6 million seed funding round, primarily led by French edtech venture capital firm Educapital. Specialist VC and the Generations Fund also participated in this latest funding round. With their support, Lakhoika is able to expand his team and develop Goodman’s innovative products and services. Today, Vocal Image has a staff of 20, mostly Belarusian exiles united by a mission to the collective start.
Looking back on his own experiences, Lakhoika admits the effects of bullying seriously affected him through his developmental years. “When I was at school, I was a little bit bullied for unclear diction,” he shared. This past gives him the passion to want to create the space for other people to address those hurdles that he faced.
Vocal Image’s groundbreaking platform empowers users to explore their voices in a judgment-free environment. Lakhoika emphasizes this aspect of the service, stating, “You can make strange movements, strange sounds […] and feel safe.” This innovative method allows users to hone their public speaking skills without the risk of being publicly shamed.
As Vocal Image moves into a new phase of expansion, Lakhoika is undeterred from her mission to empower people to find their authentic voice and hone it. Users of AI technology quickly become accustomed to personalized experiences and we’re able to customize user journeys on this platform to help meet individuals’ needs. With this unique approach, Vocal Image is quickly becoming the industry’s trusted leader in specialized voice training.
