Liki24 operates in Poland, Britain, and Germany. How did they manage it? | Ukrainian News

In 2025, nearly $100 million worth of medicines were sold through the Liki24 marketplace. This is 20.5% more than the previous year. The reason for this is the expansion that the company has been carrying out in Europe since 2020. Currently, it has launched online services in 10 countries, and through the Liki24 global platform, it is available in over 40 more countries. Business in the EU generates 70% of the company's revenue.However, the "first touch" to European market was unsuccessful. Liki24 entered the Polish market in 2020, but closed the project two years later, losing $0.5 million. At the end of 2025, the company returned to the market. Poland.In an interview, Anton Avrinsky, CEO and co-founder of liki24, shared in great detail what lessons he learned from his first failure, what work he did to correct his mistakes, and what he advises Ukrainian entrepreneurs who want to scale up in Europe. LIGA.netIn Search of External MarketsWhat was the first launch in Poland like?In 2020, we started replicating the Ukrainian model in Poland. We brought in partners and launched a logistics center – we copied everything exactly as we had done in Ukraine. It was a difficult and costly launch.At the beginning of 2021, we saw that we were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, but the pace of development was slow. The economics "didn't add up." The cost of customer acquisition was 10 times higher than in Ukraine. In total, we invested $500,000 in the first launch in Poland – we didn't get that money back.What are the key mistakes Ukrainian companies make when entering European markets?We have a misconception that expansion should start with Poland. This is a historical pattern and is related to three things that are not related to business. The first is proximity, although distance doesn't affect anything.The second pattern is similar languages.This was our big mistake – in Poland, we hired Ukrainians who knew Polish to develop the Polish market. In Romania, we hired Romanians with an entrepreneurial approach to work. They were much more effective.Third, understanding the essence of the market. There are countries that protect their national brands and businesses. They are easy to identify if you look at the market leaders.The leaders in gas stations, pharmacies, and supermarkets in Poland are Polish companies. In Romania, the leaders in gas stations are Hungarian, a Czech pharmacy is in the top 3, and the leaders in supermarkets are French.Which customer should you target when expanding?Another paradox is the focus on Ukrainians abroad. I believe this is wrong. If you build a business that targets Ukrainians, there's a low probability that it will be of high quality for locals.The market for Ukrainians abroad is very limited.Read alsoOver $300,000 in investments. How the ISEI cosmetics chain operates in Poland and CyprusReturn to Poland and the British marketHow has liki24.com changed since its initial entry into the EU market?During this time, we have built a large business in Europe, which generates over 70% of liki24.com's revenue. The company's overall sales volumes have also increased. We have established thousands of partnerships in Europe. We have built integrations with the best logistics partners: DHL, GLS, La Poste, and hundreds of others.We have added a large number of payment partners, such as Revolut. Currently, 15 languages are available on the platform. We have expanded the support team, which can process these languages. A large number of currencies are available. We have engaged hundreds of health product vendor partners.All the elements that were missing during the first launch came together. And we relaunched the platform without building the entire infrastructure, but by using what we have.What testing do you conduct before entering a new market?You have to look at what customers are responding to and adapt accordingly. We identify individual services, invest tens of thousands of dollars, and test whether they work. It worked in Romania.There's a simpler option. We launch our service in test mode without processing any transactions. We check the customer acquisition cost. We show the website and mobile apps where customers try to place an order. At the end, we say: "Sorry, we are still testing the service and are not yet operational. Here's a promo code for you. We'll be back when we're up and running."In a couple of weeks, we spend only a few thousand dollars. This way, we can see what people are looking for and how much it costs to attract them. We evaluate whether the service is needed, what specific products, terms, and how the acquisition channels we use work.After that come the actions. Today, 5% of Romania's population are our customers. Germany is one of the countries where we have the largest sales volumes.Read alsoLollipops for the Land of the Rising Sun. How a Ukrainian woman managed to enter the Japanese marketWhen exactly did you start for the second time in Poland?In the autumn of 2025, we launched a global platform that is available in over 40 countries, including Poland. There, we noticed a high volume of orders from Poland. So, we returned to the purely Polish platform, liki24.pl, and the Polish app. The launch took place in December 2025. Poland accounts for up to 5% of our total order volume. This market is growing, and we are seeing repeat orders. A large percentage of our customers are Polish.You have entered the UK market – one of the most challenging in Europe. What were the biggest difficulties you encountered?Since the UK is not part of the European Union, we had to work through many legal aspects: permits, restrictions on certain goods, and taxes. It was not easy to establish partnerships with logistics providers.Our team spent six months resolving these issues. In Britain, the checks are higher and the customer retention is excellent. This country is in the top 3 on our service.What should entrepreneurs who plan to enter EU markets pay attention to? I advise choosing a large market. The time to enter small and large markets is the same. Start testing the simplest version of the service or product as early as possible. Simplify the test as much as possible. In 2024, I studied at Stanford and recommend that Ukrainian entrepreneurs also go through the Stanford Ignite Ukraine program.Read Steve Blank's lectures. He said, "You have to look for what you can repeat many times." After training, we stopped doing everything and everywhere. We choose what we do well and can scale.The inner workings and the moneyWhere are the logistics centers located and how is delivery organized in Europe?Orders go through logistics centers and are assembled there, but not all of them. When a customer places an order on the platform, our system searches for where these products can be purchased at a lower price.We fulfill orders from various sellers. For example, you order five items. Our system automatically determines who has the item in stock, who has the best price, and reserves the item. Then, an AI element determines the best way to deliver and receive the item, and which logistics partner to involve so that the seller can ship the item directly to the customer or through us.We have a large logistics center in Romania. All goods are packed into one box there and sent to a European country. For example, you receive one box with five items from three different sellers. One seller might be from Italy, another from Poland, and the third from Romania. We are a marketplace for sellers whose goods are scattered across different countries. This is called a one-stop-shop – you can order everything in one place.There are various delivery options. Even by plane (air freight) – in one day. We use algorithms that allow us to speed up delivery and select the best logistics partners. This is done automatically by the system, without human intervention.How much does delivery cost?The price varies, depending on the country. For the most part, there is a delivery threshold. There are commissions that sellers pay us for the goods. If the value of the goods is over 49 euros, delivery is free. If the order amount is lower, delivery costs three to five euros, depending on the country. For example, a client lives in Britain and can choose to order a product and receive it tomorrow for 50 pounds. Or they can order the same product from Italy for 40 euros or from Romania for 30 euros. This is twice as cheap, but you have to wait a week.Who are your partners? We have changed our approach to understanding who our partner is. Previously in Ukraine, we only cooperated with pharmacy chains. We focused only on medicines, which is why our name is liki24.We have changed our positioning, and today we are about health products. Now our partners are pharmacies, parapharmacies, drugstores, and drug stores. There are even healthy food stores.We are not competitors to pharmacies; instead, we generate additional sales that they would never have obtained due to geographical limitations. We are a partner and a lead generator for their customers.Let's say there's a drugstore that focuses on Warsaw and the surrounding area. We bring them a client from Milan or London. We double the sales for dozens of our top partners. Although our partners pay us a commission for various services ranging from 2% to 20%, depending on the product and market. Sometimes sellers want to actively promote their product and are willing to pay us a 25% commission.Work in Ukraine and investmentsKyivstar plans to acquire the Tabletki.ua service. How might this affect the pharmaceutical market and the competitive environment?We are not commenting on this deal. I heard about it a long time ago. It's unclear how this will affect the market. Kyivstar is a powerful player in its service. I don't have any assessment or expectations.After raising $9 million in Series A, the company's valuation reached approximately $50 million. What exactly will these investments be used for?In June 2025, we had a large investment round of $9 million. The goal of the investment is growth and expansion into Western markets. We are investing in platform improvements, team building, marketing, testing, and market entry in new countries. This allows us to grow 2-3 times in Europe. We are not disclosing the company's valuation due to an agreement with investors.Where are you planning to expand?We operate in more than 50 countries, 11 of which have their own individual platforms and mobile applications. For about 40 countries, we operate a global platform, which we launched in September 2025. Our priority for expansion is Europe. We are currently investing heavily in Germany, Italy, and Britain.What are your investment plans for 2026?Europe, growth – millions of dollars.What role does the Ukrainian market play in liki24.com's business today?In Ukraine, we have a customer base of over 2.5 million. The best way I can support Ukraine is by earning money abroad and paying taxes and salaries here. I urge everyone to do the same. We need to take money from Europe and invest it in Ukraine. The market in Europe is limitless.

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