Dmitry Volkov: The History of Success

Dmitry Borisovich Volkov (born 9 July 1976)  is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and co-founder of Social Discovery Group. Dmitry Volkov got his business degree in the USA and he has been living in Europe for a long time. That’s why he perfectly combines European culture with an American entrepreneurial spirit.

Dmitry Volkov BIO

Dmitry also acts as an expert and organizer of international transactions for the sale of IT companies, and as a partner in numerous international funds, such as Blockchain Capital, Mangrove Capital Partners, DN Capital, 500 Startups, Dream Machine, Target Global, and Oaktree.

Business

In 1998, Dmitry Volkov founded his first company focused on creating and promoting Internet projects called IT-Online. In 2002, a subsidiary of the company named UsabilityLab was created to focus more on UI design. After six years, in 2008, another affiliated company came out- it was PayOnline, a payment service. Later, Dmitry Volkov sold his share in the project to the US-based Net Element for $8.5 million.

In 2014, Dmitry Volkov and his partners founded Social Discovery Group, a global tech company that invests in innovative tech projects, and develops products of its own as well. The company supports numerous tech startups, including Bitfury, a crypto developer, and Academia.edu, a social network for scientists. The company owns Dating Group, one of the leading players in the Global dating industry. In 2021, Dating Group extended its portfolio by merging Dil Mil, a fast-growing matchmaking app for South Asian expats, and Cupid Media, a global dating service from Australia. 

Art activity

In 2015, Dmitry Volkov arranged a pop-up exhibition of contemporary technological art titled “Superconduction: the challenge of art & technology” in Riga which was devoted to the new company’s office and coworking space opening in the heart of the city. In 2016, Volkov became a co-founder of the SDV Arts & Science Foundation established by Social Discovery Group. The Foundation is focused on contemporary art and analytical philosophy.

At the Burning Man Festival, Nevada, USA  he has arranged art performances with various famous artists. One of them has been featured as one of the brightest at the Burning Man festival 2017 according to The Huffington Post.

In May 2019, Dmitry Volkov, together with media artists presented a multimedia pop-up project Faced2Faced as part of a special program of the 58th Venice Biennale.

Academic activity

Dmitry Volkov’s academic interests are in philosophy of mind, free will, and the theory of consciousness. In 2014, he joined the American Philosophical Association. His major philosophical works include a book criticizing Daniel Dennett’s thought experiments and several works on mental causality problems and consciousness limits.

In 2017, Dmitry Volkov presented his thesis for a doctor’s degree on philosophy, named “The problem of free will and moral responsibility in the analytical philosophy of the late XX – early XXI centuries.”

In 2017-2018, Dmitry Volkov was one of the participants in the dialogue between a group of scientists and the Dalai Lama XIV on the matter of consciousness. Two conferences on this matter took place in August 2017 – in Delhi and May 2018 – in Dharamsala, India. 

Also, Dmitry Volkov took the Berkeley Venture Investing Course (Executive education, Venture Capital Executive Program). He has several Harvard Business School certificates (Executive Education, Negotiations and Competitive Decision Making). 

Lifestyle

Dmitry Volkov has chosen a lifestyle of a digital nomad. He continually changes his place of living, traveling between Dubai, Italy, Malta and Latvia. Dmitry has Maltese citizenship. 

  Talking about his hobbies, Dmitry Volkov pilots the helicopter, practices boxing and plays jazz.