Ru-Net, a major Moscow-based venture fund, has set up an American arm to invest in US Internet, SaaS and cloud computing companies. The new fund, named RTP Ventures, opened a representative office in New York City only last month, but has already made several investments in the first months of operations. RTP invests between $1m and $10m in each startup.
One of the first RTP portfolio companies is Tinfoil Security, The Financial Times reported, a startup offering website security from the most common threats after thorough scanning.
Leonid Boguslavsky, a former Soviet software engineer who became PWC partner before setting up Ru-Net, has taken an active part in the creation of RTP. The fund is starting with early-stage investments, he told The Financial Times, but will strike bigger deals once it has become established in the US tech community.
RTP is being managed by CEO Kirill Sheynkman (blog), a former tech investor at Greycroft Partners and co-founder of Plumtree Software, now part of Oracle, according to the British business daily.
With $700 million in funds under management globally, Ru-Net is one of the most established Russian technology funds. Among its high profile investments have been Yandex, the Russian search company introduced on the NASDAQ in May of this year, Ozon.ru, a leading Russian e-commerce site which raised $100 million last month, and Biglion, the most serious Groupon competitor in Russia.
Ru-Net has also started investing actively in Asia. Last month, it participated in a $60 million round of financing – along with German based Rebate Networks and local players – to develop e-commerce in Vietnam.
