From a translation job in Kyrgyzstan to an asset-locked CIC in Bow.
The honest version. A war, a midwifery project, a Mayor's award, four eye surgeries, and a community that never stopped needing help. Built by refugees, for refugees, since 2022.
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2022
Founded
Mendee Digital Ltd (Co. 14071822) founded in London by Alex Choysen — a refugee entrepreneur. Started as a small IT and translation company serving the communities we came from. No funding, no office, no staff.
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2022
The origin of PRVD.LDN
The International Confederation of Midwives ran a programme in Kyrgyzstan that needed multilingual document translation and live-meeting interpretation. Mendee took that on. That project — translating for midwives and patients across a language barrier — is where PRVD.LDN, our certified translation practice, begins.
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2022
First external validation — QMUL Grow It Awards
Queen Mary University of London's Grow It Awards (Santander Universities) selected Mendee. £3,000 — the first outside voice saying 'this is worth doing'. Small money, meaningful signal.
- £3,000
- QMUL · Santander
- First grant
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2022
Community grows — Telegram and WhatsApp
We launched community channels where Russian-speaking refugees and migrants could ask questions, share experiences, and get support in their language. The community grew person by person, through word of mouth. It now sits at 2,000+ members and remains the backbone of StartNewLife.
- 2,000+ members today
- Telegram & WhatsApp
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2023
GLA Challenge LDN — one of seven winners
Selected as one of seven winners of the Mayor of London's Poverty Prevention Challenge (Challenge LDN) from several hundred applicants. The grant funded SiBot — a chatbot designed to help refugees navigate UK services in their language. SiBot is the direct precursor to what became StartNewLife: the lineage is continuous.
- GLA winner
- 7 selected
- Challenge LDN 2023
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2023–24
Innovate UK — Skillanthropy
Awarded a £50,000 Innovate UK grant for a project called Skillanthropy — an R&D investigation into AI-matched skilled volunteering. This was not a refugee-specific programme; it was a broader research project into how skilled professionals could be matched to social-impact organisations. The project is now closed. It planted ideas that later became part of what we call Start to Prove.
- £50,000
- Innovate UK
- R&D — now closed
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July 2024 – January 2025
Four eye surgeries
The founder had four eye surgeries over six months and nearly lost his sight. Code stopped. Grants paused. The website fell behind. The community didn't. People kept messaging the Telegram channel asking for help with GP appointments and asylum interviews. Suhayl and the volunteer network kept answering. StartNewLife stayed alive through nothing but the people in it caring enough to keep showing up. Most peer organisations would have folded. We didn't.
- 4 surgeries
- 6 months
- 0 community days lost
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2024
Mendee CIC incorporated — asset-locked
Mendee CIC (Co. 15445605) incorporated as an asset-locked Community Interest Company. The eye surgeries clarified something: the mission needs a legal structure that survives founder departure. TERN is named as the asset-locked body on the CIC36. If Mendee CIC ever winds down, residual assets pass to TERN — never to individuals.
- CIC No. 15445605
- Asset-locked
- TERN on CIC36
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Now
Studio + programmes
Mendee Studio runs technology partnerships for mission-aligned organisations. StartNewLife runs as a formalised refugee navigation programme across 7 languages. PRVD.LDN handles certified translation for clients who need it done properly. The commercial side funds the social side — by deed.
"This is not a pitch. This is our story. We're asking for support to do more of what we've already proven works."
For funders, partners, journalists
If the journey resonates — let's talk.
Grant enquiries, partnership conversations, press — all start at the same address. We reply with one human, usually within 48 hours.