Dmitry Filatov, co-founder of dating service Topface, has launched a new venture fund targeting “Internet companies with problems”. The fund, named Restart Capital, aims to buy into companies facing financial difficulties and turn them around through restructuring and an effective marketing strategy.
Restart Capital will principally target social networks, mobile services (but not those that rely on advertising for their main revenue stream), traffic generators, aggregators, virtual currencies and fintech projects.
In order to secure funding from Restart startups must be capable of earning at least $25,000 in the next 6 months. The fund’s website also states that it only invests in projects that have already launched their product.
Konstantin Sinyushin, co-founder of The Untitled Venture Company, reckons that the new fund has a good chance of success: “In my opinion, given the current economic situation, this is the only way to secure private venture investments in Russia – the “valley of death” is only getting longer, and investments in projects that have got through it should really be called direct investment. We are firm believers in Restart Capital’s business model, but we will have to wait until the team has put together a profile of ‘re-startups’ to know whether they can make it work.”
