Simpals

Simpals (in English is spelled "sim-pals") is a group of Moldovan companies that provide online services. Simpals has a large animation studio.

Simpals

Company type	Public company
Founded	1st of April 2002
Founder	Dmitri Voloshin
Headquarters	Chisinau
Key people	Dmitry Voloshin (Chief Executive Officer) Roman Stirbu (Chief Executive Officer)
Products	999.md point.md stiri.md sporter.md mama.md forum.md marathon.md afisha.md play.md tigan.md garage.md monsters.md and others...'
Number of employees	160 (2021)

Simpals is the leader of the online advertising market in Moldova. The Simpals portals reaches almost 75% of the Moldovan internet. Simpals made the first online video broadcast in Moldova and was the first company to sponsor a marathon in Moldova.

Today Simpals has about 200 employees. The Founder and CEO is Dmitri Voloshin and the CEO is Roman Shtirbu.

Operations

Web portals

As of 2023, Simpals owned 33 portals and products. Simpals web platforms are visited by approximately 1.3 million unique visitors per month (over 70% of all internet users from Moldova).

Online advertising

In 2011, Simpals had 48% market share of online advertising

Animation and computer graphics

The Simpals animation studio portfolio includes over 100 video ads and 6 short animations, one of which was designed in VR. In 2008, the company started work on the 3D animation film "The Gipsy". In 2010, Simpals opened a computer graphics and animation school: “The School of Monsters”.

Social activity

In 2014 Simpals launched an art project, called: Chisinau Is ME. In 2015, together with Sporter,md, Simpals organized the first Chisinau International Marathon. In 2017, Simpals created: Verde.md.

Venture investment;

In 2011, Simpals launches the first venture incubator – "Simpals Garage", but its development was dropped several years later. In 2022, another similar project is launched – "Simpals Factory" – a Venture Startup Studio with €1 000 000 equity capital.

Hardware

In 2016, Simpals created the first freediving weight system: Lobster Neck Weight.In 2019, Garage - Simpals startup project - initiated a new product: Sonr, which is an underwater walkie-talkie for swimmers and coaches.

The company's customers include tOrange Moldova, Moldcell, Nestle, British American Tobacco-Moldova, «Microsoft — Moldova, «Moldtelecom, Efes Vitanta Moldova Brewery (EVMB), Lafarge», Kraft Foods, Хортица, Audi, Volkswagen, Finlandia Vodka, Procter & Gambel, President.

History

2002

On April 1, 2002 Simpals was registered in Chisinau by Dmitri Voloshin. On November 14, 2002 Simpals moved into a new office. The company had 4 employees. The job market – Joblist.md was launched. As part of the MTV Music Awards 2002, Simpals received the award for best special effects in the music video created for (in Russian)"O-Zone" band.

2003

At the "WebTop 2003" contest, Simpals received (in Russian)2 awards for economic development of the (in Russian) 999.md site. Due to the company's growth, Simpals moved into a new office. The staff included 9 employees. The automotive portal – Drive.md was launched.

2004

Simpals created a social networking platform (in Russian)Yes.md, which became some kind of (in Russian)symbiosis between online games and modern social networks. Forum.md became the Internet Project of the Year in Moldova and received the award with the same title during the International Youth Day, celebrated in Chişinău.

2005

On March 23, Simpals moved into a new office. The number of employees increased to 48 people. The daily chat was launched on (in Russian)Yes.md. As part of the (in Romanian)"Tineretul în acţiune" (Youth in action) program, (in Russian)Yes.md website received the title of the Internet project of the year in Moldova.

2006

On April 1, 2006 the company launched the Point.md platform – an information resource in Moldova. The portal was the official partner of Yandex Company in its regional program.

2007

Simpals launched (in Russian) Play.md – the first online television in Moldova. The portal broadcast both own news materials made by a team of professional journalists and alternative video versions of the events filmed and posted by the users of the portal. Simpals finalized the platform Colegi.md. The portal became a Moldovan social network.

2008

In 2008, Simpals began to work on the production of the first Moldovan 3D animated film (in Romanian)"Ţiganul" (The Gipsy). (in Russian) Simpals created the PointMessenger 2.0 software, which synchronized all services of the company’s interactive sites. The software was an analogue of ICQ. On December 21, 2008 Simpals moved into a new office. The number of employees reached 62 people.

2009

In 2009, Simpals launched the "999" online shop, which allowed Moldovan Internet users to shop online. The online map of Moldova (in Russian)point.md/Map was updated. The new map was created together with "INGEOCAD"- the State Institute of Geodesy, Engineering Research and Cadastre. Simpals added the dynamic map – point.md/Map to the Point.md portal, so that the internet users could freely access the most detailed map of Moldova. Simpals worked on the music video for the song "Hora din Moldova" performed by Nelly Ciobanu, who represented Moldova at Eurovision – 2009. [2] [3] Simpals animation studio produced 3 short 3D animated films, two of them [4] [5] being dedicated to New Year, and the third one- [6] – April Fool’s Day.

2010

Simpals moved into a new office. The number of employees reached 71 people. In 2010, Simpals opened "The School of Monsters" (MONSTERS.MD – the school of animation and computer graphics). Simpals opened a representative office of the International Mafia Game Club (MAFIA.MD). (in Russian)[7]

2011

In 2011, Simpals launched the real estate agency – Imobil.md . Simpals launched the first venture incubator of startups in Moldova – "Simpals Garage". The "Simpals Garage" startup incubator became a co-organizer of the "Startup Weekend Moldova". [8] Archived 2012-06-18 at the Wayback Machine Simpals launched Numbers.md – the first internet sales house in Moldova.

2012

Simpals launched a unified login system SimpalslD for all Simpals websites The social project "StopHam Moldova" began its activity. The company launched Point Money Mobile Currency Converter for IOS devices. Simpals launched a new section on the first Moldovan video-hosting site play.md - "Video Channels". 999.md won the gold award at the contest "Trademark of the Year" in the category "Favorite".

2013

In 2013, Simpals opened a sports portal and, under the auspices of the business incubator "Simpals Garage", the portal "marry.md". The animated film "Dji. Death fails" produced by Simpals Animation Studio won awards at various film festivals. The Point Money mobile application was adapted for Android operating system. 999.md won the silver award at the contest "Trademark of the Year" in the category "Favorite". The company launched Point Map mobile application for Android devices. Simpals launched the 999.md mobile app for IOS and Android devices.

2015

Simpals launched an online price comparison service 999 Market aimed at promoting Moldovan producers. Simpals launched Play Live, a mobile app for online streaming. The animated films "Dji. Death fails" and " Dji. Death sails" produced by Simpals Animation Studio " received awards at animation festivals and got more than 1 million views each on the popular video-hosting website youtube.com.

2016

999.md, expanded to Transdniestria. Sporter.md launches the first online platform for manufacturers and sportswear, Sporter Market.Point Map cartographers have added detailed maps for all the district centers in the Republic of Moldova. Point.md portal launches the map navigation system.

2017

Simpals company launched a new project, in collaborative development with the government - Achizitii.md. This is an online platform for all tenders in the country, for commercial agents, both public and private.

Simpals company launched a new project - Verde.md, with the aim of restoring the green spaces that have suffered from the weather. With city residents' participation, in the first planting stage held in autumn, over 400 trees were planted in Chisinau.

1 July, Afisha project in cooperation with 999.md as well as other co-organizers in the person of MS-Prod and Media Show Grup, held the third edition of the electronic music festival in Moldova, FOSFOR, which set a new record in event attendance, having gathered 24,000 spectators.

Under the auspices of 999.md project, 999 Master is launched – a referral specialist service.

2018

Simpals company has become a resident of the first IT park in Moldova. Dmitrii Volosin is decorated with state distinction for contribution to the development of sport - the Civic Merit. In April sports organization Sporter organized for the first time the Music and Sport Festival Hai Haiduci! In September, the sports organization Sporter organizes for the first time in Moldova a marathon with a number of 18,000 participants. In November, Simpals is set up in a new office.

2019

Afisha.md project launched the tickets delivery system throughout the whole country. In May, Simpals SRL became one of the founders of the Association of Electronic Industry Companies (ACEM).Map.md project started adding 3D objects on the Moldova map.

In fall, Simpals launched a new project: Studii.md. It is an online system of students’ agendas and gradebooks. During the first few months, the project was implemented in 15 schools of Moldova.

In addition, Garage, the company's development department, announced the beginning of work on the new product: Sonr.pro - the smallest underwater communicator for coaches and divers, which aimed to improve the training sessions. This product was included in the list of 7 projects selected by the Starta Accelerator (Starta Ventures Group) (New York, USA).

The most popular Moldovan online ads board, 999.md, celebrated 20 years of working on the market. Monthly, over 2 millions of users find and offer products and services on 999.md.The 999 application for Android OS was ranked on the second place among the free Moldovan apps. Verde.md project planted over 2,000 trees and bushes during this year.

In December, Simpals was successfully certified to the ISO 9001: 2015 and 27001: 2008 standards.

2020

In January, ARIPI, the animated movie created by Simpals Studio, finished its festival period, and later was made available to the public.

In connection with the events associated with COVID-19 pandemic and the switching of schools of the Republic of Moldova to distance learning, the Studii.md project started expanding opportunities by transforming the platform of electronic diaries and grade books into a complete system for distance learning. As a result, Studii.md entered the list of platforms that are recommended for distance learning by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research of the Republic of Moldova. By the end of 2020, 111 schools were connected to the platform.

Simpals joined the new advisory committee of the ATIC Association dedicated to discussing and resolving issues in the financial sector in Moldova.

During the quarantine period in Moldova, the 999.md project joined the national initiative #staiacasa and supported local producers and farmers by giving them the ability to post ads for free on the website. In addition, the project helped doctors find free housing next to work, and helped people exchange services for free in the "Mutual Aid in Quarantine" category. Together with Joblist, 999.md created a free urgent search service for employees during quarantine.

The Garage project helped the non-profit initiative group Visors produce visors (protective masks for doctors). The Sporter project, supported by volunteers, transformed snorkeling masks into protective masks for doctors.

In July, the Simpals company launched a service for the exchange and storage of electronic documents — ID.md.

With the support of UNICEF, USAID and WHO, the women’s forum mama.md and the non-governmental organization Forum released a broadcast in real time — "aLIVE", in which experts answer questions from the audience.

The Map.md and 999.md projects joined the national tourism relaunch campaign #Neampornit #Protejați. A new category appeared on the map, which includes the main tourist attractions in Moldova with an option to add new places to the map. A special subcategory was added to 999.md dedicated to the promotion of domestic tourism.

The Indoor Mapping feature appeared on the Map.md map. In September, Garage announced the launch of a new startup, Aheel — a device for runners that can teach them to run safely and without trauma. In September, Stiri.md became the most read news resource in Romanian, according to data provided by Gemius.

In 2020, the cartoon “Aripi” entered the Forbes TOP-50 VR debuts of 2019, participated in 28 festivals and won 9 awards. It also became the first Moldovan cartoon to be released on the Steam platform. Simpals Studio released a series of social sketches treating environmental issues — “The Ocean”, “The Harvest”, “The Flat”. “The Flat” participated in 36 festivals and won 2 awards. The Studio was also engaged in the production of a social video about children with Down syndrome.

Projects

• 999.md
• pay.md
• point.md
• stiri.md
• map.md
• votum.md
• profi.md
• forum.md
• tigan.md
• simpals.studio
• monsters.md
• garage.md
• lobsterweight.com
• aheel.run
• sonr.pro
• numbers.md
• play.md
• drive.md
• mafia.md
• joblist.md
• colegi.md
• mama.md
• imobil.md
• sporter.md
• ftrm.md
• marathon.md
• seamile.md
• winerun.md
• criterium.md
• freediving.md
• craciun.md
• hellrun.md
• puzzleday.md
• glodiator.md
• haiduc.md
• rubicon.run
• triumph.md
• chisinau.me
• verde.md
• afisha.md
• fosfor.md
• price.md
• achizitii.md
• id.md
• joblist.md
• studii.md
• banzai.md
• gsm.md
• point IM
• 999 market
• smsmarket.md
• yes.md

Filmography

2009

• Baro and Tagar
• Gypsy and Death

2010

• Santa and Death

2012

• Dji. Death fails

2014

• Dji. Death sails

2019

• ARIPI

2020

• The Ocean
• The Harvest
• The Flat

Awards and Distinctions

Year	Nominated work	Award	Category	Result
2013	Dji. Death fails	Budapest Short Film Festival	Animation	Won
2013		Filmsshort	Online competition	Grand Winner
2013		Shortini Film Festival	Film	Won
2013		Opuzen Film Festival	Animated Film	Won
2013		International Short Film Festival KOROCHE	Animated Film	Won
2013		SHORTS Film Festival	Animation	Won
2013		Thess International Short Film Festival	Cinematic Achievement Award	Won
2013		FreeNetWorld International Film Fest	Audience Award	Won
2013		Film Festival Cinema Under The Stars	Animation Film	Won
2013		KROK International Animation Festival 2013	Tragicomedy in 3D	Diploma
2013		Libelula Animation Festival	Animated Film	Special Mention
2013		Nevada International Film Festival	Comedy	Won
2014		Dieciminuti Film Festival	Animation	Won
2014		ClujShorts	Animation	Won
2014		Riverside Short Film & Video Festival	Audience Award	Won
2014		Prokuplje Short Film Festival	Animation	Won
2014		FIFES 2014	Animated Film	Won
2014		Sorsi Corti International Short Film Festival	Animation	Won
2014		MisCon International Short Film Festival	Fantasy Film	Fan Favorite
2014		Neum Animated Film Festival	Music	Won
2014		Festival du Film Merveilleux et Imaginaire	Animated Movie	Won
2014		Tri-Cities International Fantastic Film Festival	Animation	Won
2014		ON THE ROAD Online Film Festival	Animation	Won
2014		Premio Cinematografico Palena	Animated Film	Special Mention
2014		Corti a Ponte	Animated Film	Special Mention
2014		VOTD.tv	Online competition	Video of the Day
2015	Dji.Death Sails	FIFES	Animated Film	Won
2015		New Horizon	Comedy	Won
2015		MisCon 29 International Short Film Festival	Fantasy Film	Won
2015		Bangalore Shorts Film Festival	Animated Film	Special Mention
2015		Neum Animated Film Festival	3D Animation	Won
2015		Best Shorts Competition	Award of Excellence	Won
2015		Short of the Year- Spring 2015	Animated Film	Special Mention
2015		Koroche	Foreign Film	Won
2015		ASI Viewer's Choice Awards	Independent Professional Films category	Won
2015		Modix Festival	Animated Film	Special Mention
2015		Linoleum Film Festival	Animated Film	Special Jury Mention
2015		Animaevka	3D Animation	Won
2015		ANIMA2015 – VIII Córdoba International Animation Festival	ANIMATION FOR CHILDREN	Won
2015		Firenze Short Film Festival	Animation	Won
2015		Videnie	Animation	Won
2015		Tofuzi	Film for Children	Won
2015		Atlanta Shorts Fest	Animated Short	Won
2015		Videomedeja	Animated Film	Special Mention
2016		ШОРТЫ	Animation	Won
2015		Nevada International Film Festival	Animation	Won
2015		FAAF	Animated Film	Audience Award
2016		International Animday Awards	Animated Film	Jury's Choice
2016		Love Your Shorts Film Festival	Animation	Won
2016		Cinema Under the Stars	Animation category	1st Place
2016		Monstra Animated Film Festival	Family Program category	Audience Award
2016		Ciné-Jeune de l'Aisne	Short Animated Film	Won
2016		Golden Orchid International Animation Festival	Animated Short Film	Won
2016		Festival International UN Pays UN Film	Animated Film	Public Award
2016		Reel Shorts Film Festival in Grande Prairie	Animated Film	The Youth Audience Choice Award
2019	ARIPI	Best Shorts Competition	Animated Film	The Award of Exсellence
2019		Neum Animated Film Festival	Animation	Grand Prix
2019		Neum Animated Film Festival	Animation	Best 3D Animation
2019		Festival du Film Merveilleux et Imaginaire	Animation	Best Animation
2019		International Independent Film Awards	Animated Film	Platinum Winner
2019		Vancouver International Film Festival	VR	Veer Audience Award
2019		RAVAC International Film Festival	Animated Film	Audience Award
2019		RAVAC International Film Festival	Animated Film	Best Music
2019		RAVAC International Film Festival	Animated Film	Best Sound
2019		LUSCA Fantastic Film Fest	VR	Best VR Project
2019		Delhi Shorts International Film Festival	Animated Film	Certificate of Exсellence
2019		Baltimore Next Media Web Fest	VR	Best VR Project
2019		Austin Indie Fest	VR	Best VR Project
2019		VR AWARDS	VR	Finalist
2019		Palm Beach International Mini Movie and Film Festival	VR	Best Animated VR Project
2020		Gala Cineaștilor 2020	Animated Film	Best Soundtrack/Best Original Music
2020		Canterbury film festival	Animated Film	Best International Film
2020		Canterbury film festival	Animated Film	Best Animation
2020		Short Sweet Film Fest	VR	Outstanding Virtual Reality Film
2020		Lichter VR Storytelling Award	VR	Best VR Animation
2020		Rofife Film Festival	Animation	2nd Prize
2020		Gassli Film Festival	VR	Innovative Storytelling Award
2020		Khem Animation Film Festival	Animation	Best 3D Film
2020		Kyiv International Film Festival	Animation	Best Animated Film
2020	The Flat	Florida Animation Festival	Animation Category	1st Place
2020		Artkino	Animated Film	Honorable Diploma

Social activities

• (in Russian)"Мальчикам и девочкам посвящается" (Dedicated to the boys and girls) – a social project developed by Simpals to help orphans from Moldovan orphanages. (2006, 2007, 2011).
• (in Russian)"Wерни Wетеранам Wеру " (Give Faith to Veterans) – a social project for veterans developed by Simpals in partnership with (in Russian)Forum.md portal. The projects exists since 2005.
• The social project "StopHam Moldova" in partnership with forum.md exists since 2012 with the consent from the organizers of the Russian StopXam movement.
• * Chisinau Is Me project aims to transform turban architecture into independent urban art.
• Verde.md project aims to renew the green spaces of Chisinau and Moldova.

Educational activities

• "School of Monsters" – the school of animation and computer graphics. (MONSTERS.MD).

External links

• Official website
• Simpals Garage helps you transform your idea into a successful business moldova.startupweekend.org Archived 2012-06-18 at the Wayback Machine
• Moldovan Animation Studio Brings Death to Life!
• An interview with the makers of Death Sails
• Making of Dji. Death Sails
• Making of Dji. Death Fails