About

I'm Mikita Aharodni, also known in Russian-language publications as Nikita Ogorodniy (Никита Огородний). I was born in Minsk, study in Grodno, and build products in Belarus.

Education & beginnings

I started thinking about what to study back in eighth grade. I was choosing between engineering and medicine; my mum works in healthcare herself. In the end, I enrolled in the Faculty of Paediatrics at Grodno State Medical University.

I got involved in university life straight away: cultural events, helping organise things and running the sound at events. In my second year I took on a secretary role at the faculty. In my third year I also began leading its student scientific society.

Building Chota

My first project was Chota. In July 2025, Vladislav Sologubov and I started building an AI platform where students could upload their own reading material and learn from it. That assistant led us to RAG, enterprise knowledge search, AI agents and custom software development.

At Chota I work on product direction, business development, client conversations and bringing the team together.

By autumn 2026, Chota had generated more than US$10,000 in cumulative revenue.

Community

StartUp Space was my starting point. It introduced me to the startup world, and I fell completely in love with it. I still help the people there, and they help me. In June, we joined the Hi-Tech Park startup centre.

I really want Belarus to have a lasting, growing startup ecosystem. I like being part of a community where people build their own things, share what they learn and help each other move forward.

Get in touch

I'm always happy to hear from you — whether you want to share what's on your mind, talk about an idea, or just chat. Feel free to write: