Cinarra Systems, a developer of mobile operator analytics and monetization technologies, announced yesterday a $4.5 million Series A round of “venture capital and strategic financing.” The round was led by Russia’s Almaz Capital, while Cisco and undisclosed individual investors also participated. Geoffrey Baehr, a general partner at Almaz Capital, will join the company’s board.
Cinarra was founded in 2012 by Internet technology expert and Bell Labs Fellow Alex Zinin and Russian entrepreneur Alexander Nikolaev. The company aims to “change the economics of the mobile industry by redefining the role of network operators and over-the-top platforms.”
Cinarra’s analytics software architecture is able to “process large amounts of operator data and build in real time unique data insights that can then be monetized using Cinarra’s mediation platform.”
Headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the startup has team presence in Singapore, the USA and Russia. Cinarra Russia is a resident company at Skolkovo, the state-sponsored international tech hub nearing completion on the outskirts of Moscow.
“Cinarra Systems is a truly international startup founded by entrepreneurs who successfully combine Russian and American talent and ingenuity,” said Alexander Galitsky, general partner at Almaz Capital. “We believe that Cinarra is well positioned to be the next [Russian] international success story , continuing in the trail-blazing tradition of Russian entrepreneurs who founded Yandex, Kaspersky Labs and Parallels.”
Almaz is one of the most established Russian venture funds. Its portfolio includes such companies as Parallels, a globalized Russian software company, and Yandex, the Russian search engine giant that went public on the NASDAQ in 2011. To date, Almaz I has three exits (including Yandex) and two failures. Almaz II was launched in August this year with a $102 million fund under management.
Back in 2010, Cisco committed itself to supporting entrepreneurship and sustainable innovation in Russia, including commitment to the Skolkovo project.
