Two weeks after Foursquare made available a Russian version of its service – along with versions in Bahasa Indonesian, Korean, Portuguese, and Thai – a powerful Russian media group, RBC, announced it has invested $1 million in Ogorod.ru, one of the two best-known local services inspired by the Foursquare concept.
RBC has a 51% stake in Ogorod, with an option for an additional 19% in the next two years, news agency RIA Novosti reported. Part of the deal amount was offered in exchange for the shares; the other part will be used to develop the company further.
Ogorod operates in Moscow and St. Petersburg in partnership with Afisha, the leading Russian city entertainment magazine. The geolocation service will be integrated with QIP, a popular local online messenger owned by RBC. Ogorod is already integrated with Facebook, Twitter, and blog hosting platform LiveJournal.
Ogorod’s main local competitor is AlterGeo, which attracted an important investment from leading international and Russian investors in June.
RBC, or RosBusinessConsulting, is a multifaceted media company. Founded as a news agency in 1993, the group now operates online and print media as well as a television channel, RBC TV, and a number of events, all focused mainly on business news. Its Internet portfolio covers a more diversified range of themes, from dating site LovePlanet.ru to children’s social network Tvidi.ru, humor site Anekdot.ru and webmail service Pochta.ru.
