The story of Mendee and StartNewLife — built by refugees, for refugees, one step at a time.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The founder underwent four eye surgeries between July 2024 and January 2025, nearly losing his sight. Development paused. But the community didn’t stop — people kept reaching out, and we kept helping where we could. StartNewLife continued through volunteers and the network we had built.
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.
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.
“This is not a pitch. This is our story. We’re asking for support to do more of what we’ve already proven works.”View Funding Proposal →