The story and people behind Doki

Founded in 1999 by Andy Hadjicostis from Cyprus, Doki was conceived as a fun, innovative and imaginative way to learn a foreign language. Andy teamed up with Vivienne Ladommatou who managed the project's development and its initial market launch. The guiding concept was to learn basic phrases and words used in every day life through an animated environment without the use of grammar. Vivienne set up a team of educational experts in the UK to ensure that Doki was pedagogically sound. To create a compelling and dynamic graphic environment, Magali Charrier, an award-winning French artist, was chosen to create the characters.

Doki was originally launched in 2001 as a CD-ROM based product and successfully sold in many countries. With positive industry, consumer and educational reviews, the company expanded its products to include the Spanish, French and German versions. Plans to expand the product line came to a halt however, with the untimely death of Andy in 2010. All activities came to a standstill, until Andy’s family decided to convert Doki into an app for Apple’s mobile devices. Andy’s elder brother created a new team, headed by Jane Kayantas from NY, in order to successfully create the Doki app and introduce it to the global market. As such, Andy and Vivienne's dream continues — a fun-learning method to encourage people to ... speak to the world.
Our team

Jane Kayantas (US), Project Manager.

With a background in the Arts and Marketing and an MMH/MBA from Cornell University, Jane travelled extensively around the world for 3 years. She brings a unique and valuable perspective to the product, and manages the different aspects of the Doki project.

Tasos Vlachopoulos (UK), Technology Development Manager.

With a Master of Science from Strathclyde University, Scotland, and a passion for technology, Tasos is the developer that brought a seamless Doki app to life on both iPad and iPhone. His love for marathon racing underlies his persistence to making the “impossible … possible” which has been the decisive element in creating the, for now, 14 Doki apps.

Panos Lyris (Greece), Head Graphic Designer.

Always with a pencil in hand, Panos sketches every possible second of the day and is the proud winner of the marathon competition ‘24-Hour Comic Day: Hellas’ … twice. He heads the creative team of our upcoming project: Doki Kids.

Louise Carleton-Gertsch (Germany), Early Educational Expert.

With a Masters in Art from Cambridge University in the UK, and with over 12 years experience in early educational publishing, Louise has created a wonderful and imaginative world to teach little ones English and Spanish for our upcoming project, Doki Kids. Details to be announced soon!

Alex Vlachopoulos Arch-Eng, MArch (Greece), Consultant.

Architect by profession, Alex brings an aesthetic sophistication to all aspects of Doki. His unique ability to understand and help the team keep to the timeline has been key to completing the collection of Doki apps.