• Tech.eu reports that about 70% of OneSoil's audience was in Russia and Ukraine when it planned a paid launch in early 2022.
• The company says it went through three rounds of layoffs, with headcount falling from roughly 70-80 to about 30.
• The company says it reached break-even in 2025 and expects negative EBITDA in 2026 because of deliberate investment.
• Africa, mostly South Africa, is now the second-largest region by revenue after Europe, while Latin America proved much harder than expected.
• Tech.eu's two articles describe the 2026 round as €1 million and $1 million, and none of the company's figures were audited.

OneSoil, a Zurich-based agtech startup, says it reached break-even in 2025 after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine removed most of its audience. Tech.eu's October 2026 interview with Katya Kheistver reports that about 70% of the audience sat in Russia and Ukraine when the company planned a paid launch in early 2022. The case matters as a worked example of rebuilding on unit economics rather than fresh capital. Every figure below is the company's own, relayed by Tech.eu, and none was audited.

What the war removed

Tech.eu reports that about 70% of OneSoil's audience was in Russia and Ukraine when it planned to launch OneSoil Pro, a paid product, in early 2022. Kheistver says the company had invested considerable time and investor capital in that product. The same article says the company stopped monetising in Russia and relocated its Ukrainian employees. The result was a large user base concentrated in two countries that could no longer be turned into revenue.

Cutting to unit economics

Tech.eu reports three rounds of layoffs, with headcount falling from roughly 70 to 80 before the war to about 30 today, and the team now being rebuilt. It also reports that all three co-founders left over the following two years. Kheistver is quoted as saying: "We moved away from that approach towards building a business with positive unit economics." The company says it reached break-even in 2025 and expects negative EBITDA in 2026 because of deliberate investment.

Africa ahead of Latin America

According to Tech.eu, Europe, particularly Poland, continues to expand for OneSoil. Teams in Brazil and Argentina found Latin America much harder than expected. Africa is now the second-largest region by revenue after Europe, with South Africa contributing most of it, and the company also operates in Kenya and Tanzania and is expanding toward Nigeria. These are company statements, and no regional revenue figures were disclosed.

A small round and a paid AI bet

Tech.eu's June 2026 report says OneSoil raised €1 million from existing investors, including Yury Melnichek, to develop its AI Agronomist; no other investors were named. The October interview instead describes $1 million from existing and new investors, so currency and investor mix differ between the two pieces. The October piece says the optional paid feature uses five specialised agents and asks for evidence, such as a field photo, before recommending treatments. It also cites about 140,000 annual users monitoring around 70 million hectares.

What we could not verify

Tech.eu cites an ambiguously worded 106% revenue growth figure, with no revenue base disclosed. Break-even in 2025 comes with no accounts. The round differs by currency and investor mix across two Tech.eu articles. We found no independent data on paid uptake of the AI Agronomist, and the co-founder departures rest on the single October interview. Treat the turnaround as plausible but not benchmarked against audited results.

Verdict

OneSoil reads as survival through contraction, not yet a proven recovery. Cutting to about 30 people and finding revenue in South Africa are consistent with the company's break-even claim, but the claim itself is unaudited and the funding details are inconsistent across reports. The open question is whether paid AI adoption can carry growth while EBITDA is guided negative for 2026. Watch paid conversion and audited revenue, not user counts.