Ruby Labs is a UK-based B2C SaaS company that operates a subscription-based model and builds high-value products that users are excited to use constantly. Their first app, Hint, fastly catapulted them to the top first global rankings of mobile apps, allowing the enterprise to grow into $30M ARR within the first one and a half years and have 70 employees across the UK and Europe. Its CEO and Founder, Roman Taranov, is a self-made millennial entrepreneur with a passion for innovation and development and a keen eye for good gaps in the market.
There are many ways in which mobile apps changed the way we relate to the context around us. Our life without apps is difficult to imagine right now. We use them to find places and learn how to get there, interact with others and share our lives, manage our money, and make purchases online instead of heading to the store.
However, some niches and markets haven’t been fully explored yet, and that’s Mr. Taranov’s expertise. Ruby Lab’s products were born after realizing there were under-served audiences in the wellness market.
Hint (first called Astrology Coach), Ruby Lab’s first launch came into life after large-scale research found that Astrology was a $10Bn market. However, it was not widely digitalized, unlike many other self-care niches. Less than 5% of revenue came from digital sources worldwide. So the minimum viable product was built in 3 to 4 months, and the reception was tremendous. After the first 6 to 12 months, over 30M users downloaded the Hint app with an average rating of 4.1.
The Hint was soon ranked among the top 100 high-grossing apps worldwide, the top 3 in the Lifestyle category, and 1 in Astrology with 70% market share by downloads and revenue. This rapid success allowed Roman to scale the company quickly and achieve substantial margins.
Then the company continued to grow and launched their second app, Able, working with both Apple and Google. According to a World Health Organization report, being aware that worldwide obesity had nearly tripled since 1975, they decided to create a tool to help people improve their health and quality of life by providing knowledge to lose weight and make mindful lifestyle decisions.
Apart from helping improve people’s lives through lifestyle apps, Ruby Labs is also innovative in the work culture arena. For example, it was remote-first long before the pandemic, based on the many benefits that this form of working entails (both for employees and the company), such as being able to find better talents in less time and for less money, providing highly valuable working conditions such as autonomy, more productivity, and the ability to be location-free.
The company is based on solid values that Roman always wanted to capitalize on in his own company, such as kindness, inclusion and diversity, balance, and learning. In addition, Ruby Labs encourages a flexible work environment, which, according to employees, helps them to think outside the box, be more creative, and grow professionally and personally.
Mr. Taranov is also an investor. He helps other entrepreneurs by investing in their ventures. With more than 10 companies in his portfolio, he enjoys making an indirect impact on society and has no plans to stop doing what he loves best in the mid-to long term.
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