From a Telegram chat to a healthcare programme.

February 2022

When the war began

Russia's invasion of Ukraine triggered a wave of displacement across the post-Soviet world. Thousands of Russian-speaking refugees — from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, and Central Asia — arrived in the UK with no English, no GP, no understanding of the system.

April 2022

Where it started

Mendee Digital Ltd founded in London by Alex Choysen — a refugee entrepreneur from Central Asia. Started as a small IT and translation company, serving the communities we came from. No funding, no office, no staff. Just two people who understood what it feels like to be alone in a foreign country.

September 2022

The numbers start growing

The wave of Russian-speaking refugees arriving in the UK accelerated. More and more people reached out for help — with GP registration, understanding the NHS, navigating a system designed for English speakers. We began helping person by person, through Telegram and WhatsApp.

December 2022

The community is born

We launched our Telegram and WhatsApp community — a trusted space where Russian-speaking refugees and migrants could ask questions, share experiences, and get support in their language. It has grown to over 2,000 members and remains the backbone of everything we do.

• 2,000+ members today
• Telegram & WhatsApp

2023

Mayor of London

Selected as a winner of the Mayor of London's Poverty Prevention Challenge (Challenge LDN). £48,000 grant from the Greater London Authority to build SiBot — an AI assistant for refugees. One of seven winners out of hundreds of applicants.

• £48K GLA grant
• 7 winners selected
• Challenge LDN

2023

SiBot — what we built

SiBot Hub launched as a web application. 189 users in the first month. Community chat grew to 631 members. User research with 7 refugee personas. Multilingual AI support. CV builder. We presented at the GLA showcase event and submitted our End of Project Report.

• 189 users in month 1
• 631 community members
• 7 refugee personas

2024

Innovate UK

Awarded £46,550 by Innovate UK for Skillanthropy — an R&D project exploring AI-powered tools for social impact. Recognition at the national level that a refugee-led company can deliver government-funded innovation.

• £46,550 Innovate UK
• Skillanthropy R&D

July 2024 – Jan 2025

The difficult part

Four eye surgeries in six months. The founder nearly lost his sight. Code stopped, grants paused, the website fell behind. The community didn't. People kept messaging the Telegram channel asking for help with GP appointments and asylum interviews. Suhayl and the volunteer network kept answering. StartNewLife stayed alive through nothing but the people in it caring enough to keep showing up. This is the part of the story we don't put in pitch decks but should — most peer organisations would have folded.

• 4 surgeries
• 6 months paused
• 0 community days lost

January 2026

Coming back stronger

Mendee CIC incorporated (No. 15445605). Volunteer agreement signed. startnewlife.uk launched — 17 topics × 7 languages = 119 URLs. SiBot being relaunched as a Telegram bot serving our 2,000+ community. The programme is now formalised, structured, and ready to scale.

• CIC No. 15445605
• 119 pages live
• 2,000+ community

2026

What's next

With grant funding, we scale what already works: 100 GP registrations, 50 ongoing support cases, 20 interpreter accompaniments in Year 1. SiBot goes live on Telegram as a 24/7 AI assistant. Web version on sibot.uk for partners to interact with our technology.

• 100 GP registrations
• 50 support cases
• 20 interpreter trips