Between 2020 and 2025, Tinkoff launched and scaled a financial education product aimed at making investing more accessible to millions of users across Russia. What started as a basic online course grew into a full-fledged mobile and web platform, integrating expert content, personalized learning paths, and partner courses—all available for free. I worked on the product team that helped shape the platform’s vision, structure its experience, and scale it for a broad audience.

The idea: Lowering the barrier to entry

The original hypothesis was simple: retail investors want to invest, but they lack knowledge. Many new users were opening brokerage accounts but hesitating to take action. Tinkoff’s strategy was to close this knowledge gap not with webinars or documentation—but with a complete learning ecosystem. Think “Coursera for finance”—an app where people could understand how the stock market works before risking their money.

As a product, the Academy had to balance three goals:

• Educate users in a simple, structured way.
• Integrate learning into the Tinkoff Investments ecosystem.
• Convert learners into confident, active investors.

MVP and early traction

The team launched a pilot course in 2020 called the “Investment Textbook.” Within a year, it attracted 3.6 million users and 1.7 million completions. That conversion rate (~47%) was unusually high for digital learning—and it validated the demand.

By the end of 2021, Tinkoff launched Investment Academy as a standalone educational hub inside the Investments app. It offered curated courses on topics like:

• What are stocks, bonds, and ETFs?
• How to evaluate companies
• How futures work

All courses were structured with tests and certificates, and were designed for various skill levels—from first-time users to experienced traders.

Scaling to millions

In 2022, the Academy launched as a separate mobile app and web platform, open to everyone—even those who weren’t Tinkoff clients. The content grew to over 20 full courses, plus short video lessons, expert interviews, podcasts, and interactive quizzes.

By 2023, the platform had reached over 2.4 million users, with 1.45 million completing at least one full course. This 60% course completion rate confirmed that users not only signed up but stayed engaged. Courses were also updated with content from strategic partners, including:

• Moscow and St. Petersburg Stock Exchanges
• Top Russian universities
• Financial market associations like NAUFOR

Business goals and product strategy

While the Academy served an educational mission, it was also a key part of the product growth strategy:

• Retention → Trained investors are more likely to stay in the Tinkoff ecosystem.
• Activation → The Academy acted as a soft onboarding funnel for new investors, guiding them to open brokerage accounts and make their first trade.
• Increased lifetime value → Financially literate users tend to invest more over time.
• Brand positioning → Tinkoff was one of the first banks in the market to provide free, high-quality investor education at scale.

Product design challenges

• Courses had to work equally well for teens and retirees. This meant creating a modular experience where users could self-select their learning path.
• Content wasn’t enough. We added progress tracking, interactive elements, and visual storytelling to keep users moving.
• Users needed an easy handoff from learning to action. We integrated “Start investing” flows directly into the course experience to lower friction.

The outcome

• 2.4M+ users joined the Academy between 2020–2023.
• 1.45M completed at least one full course.
• Dozens of partner organizations joined the platform.
• The mobile app consistently ranked in the top finance education apps in Russia.
• The “Academy” model is now a key growth engine for the Tinkoff Investments business.

What I took away