Simpals (in English is spelled "sim-pals") - is a group of Moldovan companies which provides online services and has one of the largest animation studios. Simpals is the leader of the online advertising market in Moldova and owns the largest portals including the most visited Moldovan site 999.md. The general coverage of Simpals portals reaches almost 75% of the Moldovan internet.
Web portals
The company owns 12 portals, 5 of them (999.md, point.md, play.md, forum.md, drive.md) being in the (Russian)top 10 most visited sites in Moldova. Simpals web platforms are visited by approximately 1.3 million unique visitors per month (over 70% of all internet users from Moldova).
Online advertising
In 2011, Simpals had 48% market share of online advertising (999.md, play.md, point.md, forum.md). According to this indicator, Simpals (Russian)is the leader. (According to (Russian)Logos-Press)
In 2011, Simpals launches Numbers – the first internet sales house, joining the most important platforms of the Moldovan internet.
Animation and computer graphics
Simpals owns the largest animation studio in the country, which has a portfolio of more than 100 advertising videos and five animated short films. Since 2008, the studio has been working on the first Moldovan 3D animated feature film – (Romanian)“Ţigan” (The Gipsy). In 2010, Simpals opened “The School of Monsters” (MONSTERS.MD) – the school of animation and computer graphics.
E-Commerce;
Simpals owns one of the largest online shops in Moldova – 999.md/Shop.
Venture investment;
In 2011, Simpals launches the first venture incubator – „Simpals Garage”.
The company's customers include the biggest local and international companies and brands: «Orange Moldova», «Moldcell», «Nestle», «British American Tobacco-Moldova», «Microsoft» — Moldova, «Moldtelecom»(local telephony operator), «Efes Vitanta Moldova Brewery» (EVMB), «Lafarge», «Kraft Foods», «Хортица»(factory), «Audi», «Volkswagen», «Finlandia Vodka», «Procter&Gambell», «President».
The future founder of Simpals, Dmitri Voloshin, registered the 999.md domain – the site that later became the basis of the company and (Russian)the most visited web portal in Moldova.
The platform (Russian)Gsm.md was launched.
The site moldovanin.com was created. At this stage, the site is the Dmitri Voloshin’s personal webpage containing a portfolio of work. In future it will form the basis of the corporate website of the company.
The first Moldovan forum – the Forum.md was launched. A characteristic feature of the forum was its format and the content generation system – UGS (User-generated content). The site gave Moldnet users the ability to communicate on a variety of topics.
On April 1, 2002 Simpals was registered in Chisinau by Dmitri Voloshin.
On November 14, 2002 Simpals moved into a new office. The company had 4 employees.
The job market – Joblist.md was launched.
As part of the MTV Music Awards 2002, Simpals received the award for best special effects in the music video created for (Russian)“O-Zone” band.
At the “WebTop 2003” contest, Simpals received (Russian)2 awards for economic development of the (Russian)999.md site.
Due to the company's growth, Simpals moved into a new office. The staff included 9 employees.
The automotive portal – Drive.md was launched.
Simpals created a social networking platform (Russian)Yes.md, which became some kind of (Russian)symbiosis between online games and modern social networks.
Forum.md became the Internet Project of the Year in Moldova and received the award with the same title during the International Youth Day, celebrated in Chişinău.
On March 23, Simpals moved into a new office. The number of employees increased to 48 people.
The daily chat was launched on (Russian)Yes.md.
As part of the (Romanian)"Tineretul în acţiune" (Youth in action) program, (Russian)Yes.md website received the title of the Internet project of the year in Moldova.
On April 1, 2006 the company launched the Point.md platform – an information resource in Moldova. The portal was the official partner of Yandex Company in its regional program.
Simpals launched (Russian)Play.md – the first online television in Moldova. The portal broadcast both own news materials made by a team of professional journalists and alternative video versions of the events filmed and posted by the users of the portal.
Simpals finalized the platform Colegi.md. The portal became a Moldovan social network.
In 2008, Simpals began to work on the production of the first Moldovan 3D animated film (Romanian)“Ţiganul” (The Gipsy). (Russian)[2] [3]
Simpals created the PointMessenger 2.0 software, which synchronized all services of the company’s interactive sites. The software was an analogue of ICQ.
On December 21, 2008 Simpals moved into a new office. The number of employees reached 62 people.
In 2009, Simpals launched the “999” online shop, which allowed Moldovan Internet users to make purchases without leaving home.
The online map of Moldova (Russian)point.md/Map was updated. The new map was created together with “INGEOCAD”- the State Institute of Geodesy, Engineering Research and Cadastre. Simpals added the dynamic map – point.md/Map to the Point.md portal, so that the internet users could freely access the most detailed map of Moldova.
Simpals Company worked on the music video for the song “Hora din Moldova” performed by Nelly Ciobanu, who represented Moldova at the prestigious international song contest Eurovision – 2009. [4] [5] [6]
In 2009, Simpals animation studio produced 3 short 3D animated films, two of them [7] [8] being dedicated to New Year, and the third one- [9] – April Fool’s Day.
Simpals moved into a new office. The number of employees reached 71 people.
In 2010, Simpals opened “The School of Monsters” (MONSTERS.MD – the school of animation and computer graphics.
Simpals opened a representative office of the International Mafia Game Club (MAFIA.MD). (Russian)[10]
In 2011, Simpals launched the real estate agency – Imobil.md
Simpals launched the first venture incubator of startups in Moldova – “Simpals Garage”.
The “Simpals Garage” startup incubator became a co-organizer of the “Startup Weekend Moldova”. [11]
In 2011, Simpals launched Numbers.md – the first internet sales house in Moldova.
In 2012, Simpals began combining all its online platforms into a single project and launched a unified login system SimpalslD for all websites of the Simpals company: 999.md, point.md, play.md, tigan.md, numbers.md.
The social project "StopHam Moldova" began its activity.
The company launched Point Money Mobile Currency Converter for IOS devices.
Simpals launched a new section on the first Moldovan video-hosting site play.md - "Video Channels".
999.md hit record with more than 100 000 unique visitors per day and more than one million unique visitors per month.
The most visited classified ad site 999.md won the gold award at the contest "Trademark of the Year" in the category "Favorite".
In 2013, Simpals opened the sports portal sporter.md and, under the auspices of the business incubator Simpals Garage, the portal marry.md.
The animated film "Dji. Death fails" produced by Simpals Animation Studio won awards at various film festivals.
The Point Money mobile application was adapted for Android operating system.
999.md won the silver award at the contest "Trademark of the Year" in the category "Favorite".
Sporter.md held the first open water swimming competition Sea Mile, where the participants had to swim 1700 meters across the Ghidighici reservoir.
Simpals launched a toy rocket into the stratosphere.
The company launched the project Chisinau is Me.
Simpals Animation Studio produced the animated film “Dji. Death sails”.
Simpals started the rebranding of 999.md.
Sporter.md held the first major cycling race in Moldova - Chisinau Criterium, which was subsequently included in the list of annual competitions, supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sport of Moldova. In order to meet international requirements, Simpals was the first to use professional timing system in Moldova.
The information portal point.md hit record with more than 119 000 unique users per day.
The company launched Point Map mobile application for Android devices.
Simpals held the second annual open water competition Sea Mile. As compared to last year, the distance was increased to 1852 meters.
In 2014, Simpals launched the 999.md mobile app for IOS and Android devices.
999.md hit record with more than 150 000 unique visitors per day.
After the introduction of the visa-free regime between Moldova and Romania, under the auspices of sporter.md Simpals held an 80 km "visa-free relay race", which started on the Great National Assembly Square and ended in Romania.
On April 26, Simpals held the first international marathon in Chisinau.
The company launched an online price comparison service 999 Market aimed at promoting Moldovan producers.
Simpals launched Play Live, a mobile app for online streaming.
999.md hit record with more than 170 000 unique visitors per day.
Under the auspices of Sporter.md, Simpals held the first race in the Cricova wine cellars.
For the third consecutive year, Simpals held the open water swimming competition Sea Mile, where participants could choose one of three distances: 200 m, 1852 m, 3704 m. The city beach near the Ghidighici reservoir was renovated specifically for this event.
The animated films "Dji. Death fails" and " Dji. Death sails" produced by Simpals Animation Studio " received awards at various animation festivals and got more than 1 million views each on the popular video-hosting website youtube.com.
Today Simpals has more than 120 employees.
General Director — Dmitri Voloshin
Deputy manager (IT Director) — Roman Shtirbu
999.md
point.md
forum.md
tigan.md
yes.md
garage.md
monsters.md
numbers.md
play.md
drive.md
mafia.md
joblist.md
colegi.md
smsmarket.md
gsm.md
mama.md
imobil.md
sporter.md
marathon.md
seamile.md
2009
Baro and Tagar
Gypsy and Death
2010
Santa and Death
2012
Dji. Death fails
2014
Dji. Death sails
Awards and Distinctions
Dji. Death fails
Best Animation Budapest Short Film Festival 2013
Best Film Shortini Film Festival 2013
Best Animated Film Opuzen Film Festival 2013
Best Animated Film International Short Film Festival KOROCHE 2013
Best Animation SHORTS Film Festival 2013
Cinematic Achievement Award Thess International Short Film Festival 2013
Audience Award FreeNetWorld International Film Fest 2013
1st Prize for Best Animation Film Festival Cinema Under The Stars 2013
Diploma for Tragicomedy in 3D KROK International Animation Festival 2013
Special Mention Libelula Animation Festival 2013
Best Comedy Nevada International Film Festival 2013
Best Animation Dieciminuti Film Festival 2014
Best Animation ON THE ROAD Online Film Festival 2014
Best Animation ClujShorts 2014
Audience Award Riverside Short Film & Video Festival 2014
Best Animation Prokuplje Short Film Festival 2014
1st Prize FIFES 2014
Best Animation Sorsi Corti International Short Film Festival 2014
Fan Favorite for Best Fantasy Film MisCon International Short Film Festival 2014
Best Music Neum Animated Film Festival 2014
Best Animated Movie Festival du Film Merveilleux et Imaginaire 2014
Special Mention Premio Cinematografico Palena 2014
Best Animation Tri-Cities International Fantastic Film Festival 2014
Video of the Day VOTD.tv online competition
Grand Winner Filmsshort online competition
Dji. Death sails
1st Prize at FIFES 2015
Best Comedy at New Horizon 2015
Best Fantasy Film at MisCon International Short Film Festival 2015
Special Mention at Bangalore Shorts Film Festival 2015
Best 3D Animation at Neum Animated Film Festival 2015
Award of Excellence at Best Shorts Competition 2015
Special Mention at Short of the Year- Spring 2015
Best Foreign Film at Koroche 2015
Winner in the Independent Professional Films category at Anifest India 2015 in the TASI Viewer's Choice Awards
Special Mention at Modix Festival 2015
Special Jury Mention at Linoleum 2015
Best 3D Animation at Animaevka 2015
Best Animation for Children at Anima 2015
Best Animation at Firenze Short Film Festival 2015
Best Animation at Videnie 2015
Best Film for Children at TOFUZI 2015
Best Animated Short at Atlanta Shorts Fest 2015
Special Mention at Videomedeja 2015
Best Animation at Shorts Film Festival 2015
(Russian)“Мальчикам и девочкам посвящается” (Dedicated to the boys and girls) – a social project developed by Simpals to help orphans from Moldovan orphanages. (2006, 2007, 2011).
(Russian)„Wерни Wетеранам Wеру " (Give Faith to Veterans) – a social project for veterans developed by Simpals in partnership with (Russian)Forum.md portal. The projects exists since 2005.
The social project "StopHam Moldova" in partnership with forum.md exists since 2012 with the consent from the organizers of the Russian StopHam movement.
“School of Monsters” – the school of animation and computer graphics. (MONSTERS.MD).
The company celebrates its birthday on April 1, which is known as April Fools' Day. It has become a tradition that on this day the company announces the start of new projects, companies and events.
One of the company's corporate entertainment activities is to break old computers.
In 2008, the director of Simpals was invited to visit Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, United States. Pixar representatives were interested in Simpals’ project – "The Gypsy" animated film. [12]
Simpals made the first online video broadcast in Moldova (according to (Russian)Logos-Press).
Simpals was the first in Moldova to hold a marathon, free-diving competitions, a race in the wine cellars and a number of other sporting events for amateur and professional athletes.
Brand
The company's slogan - "All is simple".
www.Simpals.md (www.Simpals.com)
Simpals Garage helps you transform your idea into a successful business moldova.startupweekend.org
Moldovan Animation Studio Brings Death to Life!
An interview with the makers of Death Sails
Making of Dji. Death Sails
Making of Dji. Death Fails
