Bold enough to compete with the mapping services of Yandex and Google, 2GIS, a Novisibirsk, Siberia-based company, has raised $40 million from two major investment funds, Baring Vostok Capital Partners and Ru-Net.
Launched in 1999 and now developing across three continents, 2GIS (pronounce “double giss”) is one of the least known but most remarkable Russian technological firms. The deal, in which the two funds received a minority stake, comes as the first equity financing round for 2GIS.
“Our company has come to a new development stage. This funding will allow us to promote the service more actively in the European part of Russia, open branches abroad in addition to the existing franchise network, and develop new products,” stated 2GIS President Vera Garmash.
“2GIS has created a unique product, which includes detailed and up-to-date maps, and an all-encompassing database about city venues. Also impressing is the number of 2GIS users who make frequent use of the web and mobile interfaces,” said Elena Ivashentseva, senior partner at Baring Vostok.
“By focusing on quality and integrity of its data, 2GIS has been able to build one the largest consumer Internet services,” added Ru-Net founder and industry veteran Leonid Boguslavsky.
Baring Vostok and Ru-Net are among the most established Russian investment funds, with investments in Ozon and Yandex at the very early stages. Ru-Net’s move is all the more remarkable that this fund now tends to invest abroad rather than in Russia.
From Moscow, to Prague, to Santiago de Chile
With its accurate 3D city maps, the 2GIS service allows one to look for organizations and services, and find directions for cars and public transport. The service may be used completely offline.
2GIS is currently available in more than 280 cities in 8 countries, primarily in Russia, but also in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Cyprus, Italy, UAE, the Czech Republic and as far as Chile, where the service launched last year. The company claims a global audience of more than 41 million monthly users, including 14 million using the service via partnering sites.
Thirty-eight thousand companies from a variety of industries advertise through the platform. “In many cases, our service is the most effective channel to attract local customers,” says the company, whose advertising revenues exceeded 4 billion rubles in 2014 (nearly $105 million at the average exchange rate).
In 2011, 2GIS launched Flamp.ru, a consumer review website which now covers nearly 100 Russian cities, including Moscow, and attracts 3 million unique users monthly. Flamp.ru features 1.33 million reviews, which are reviewed and commented officially by more than 32,000 companies, claims the company.
In 2013, Mashable included 2GIS in its list of Russia’s “20 hottest startups.”
