Tulp.ru, a website where users can share impressions on local businesses—from detailed stories of their consumer experince to photos and ratings—is about to raise $3 million from “an important Russian offline player,” reported company founder Taisiya Kudashkina to EWDN.
Tulp.ru was founded in 2009 in Omsk as a blog about local events. In 2010, the site was revamped loosely along the lines of Yelp.com and began to extend its coverage geographically. The site currently covers dozens of cities in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus.
“What you can see on the site now is merely a prototype,” said Kudashkina. “Currently, our main goal is to collect content—a base of locations and user reviews. But we are also working on a number of new, innovative features to make Tulp.ru a global Russian speaking social network for customers and service companies.”
Tulp.ru claims to be “the first specialized network in Russia designed specifically for customers and service companies.” Kudashkina said. “As of yet, no other site has approached the problem of creating a platform where people can share and accumulate their consumer experiences. We know how to do it. There is an ocean of opportunity before us.”
(Updated April 17, 2011)
