Early Life and Education
Max Lytvyn was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, on December 3, 1977. He received his basic education there. Lytvyn later graduated from the International Christian University in Kyiv with a bachelor's degree in Management Information Systems. He furthered his education by moving to the United States, where he earned an MBA from Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management.
Rise to Success
Before co-founding Grammarly, Lytvyn worked on plagiarism detection technology. He co-created MyDropBox, a plagiarism-detection company, which was later acquired by Blackboard Inc.. Following the acquisition, Lytvyn served as the Director of Product Strategy at Blackboard. In 2009, Lytvyn, along with Alex Shevchenko and Dmytro Lider, founded Grammarly. Initially, Grammarly was designed to help students with grammar and spelling. It has since evolved into a comprehensive AI-driven grammar checker.
Key Business Strategies
Lytvyn's role at Grammarly is focused on identifying and expanding new market opportunities. Under his leadership, the company continuously improves its AI algorithms, adds new features, and expands its global presence. Grammarly has grown significantly, with over 40 million users daily and a valuation of $13 billion as of 2021. In May 2025, Grammarly raised $1 billion in non-dilutive financing to build a comprehensive AI-powered productivity platform.
Philanthropy
In July 2024, Grammarly donated approximately $500,000 to help rebuild the Okhmatdyt children's hospital after it was damaged by a Russian missile strike.