Target Global, an international venture fund with Russian backers, has led a $24 million funding round for Zooz, an Israeli payment service provider. The round, which was announced last week, also involved Fang Fund, iAngels, Kreos Capital and existing investors Blumberg Capital, Lool Ventures, Rhodium, Claltech (Access Industries’ Israeli tech vehicle), XSeed Capital, CampOne Ventures and angel Eilon Tirosh. The details of the transaction have not been disclosed.
This series C round brings the total amount invested in the company to $40.5 million, raised in four rounds.
Zooz will use the funding “to accelerate its growth, develop new products, open new markets, and increase its presence in existing markets.” Since its last round in July 2014, the company has already opened offices in London, Berlin and San Francisco.
Zooz makes merchants’ activity easier by connecting them to multiple payment methods and channels, even specific ones — like Visa Qiwi or Yandex Money which are popular among Russian online consumers.
To differentiate itself on the highly competitive market of payment aggregation, Zooz has launched such specific solutions as Smart Routing, which “seamlessly connects into any merchant’s infrastructure and applies business rules to optimize all transactions and payments performance,” and Insights Offering, which “provides intelligent analysis based on customer transactional data.”
A global investment story
Launched in 2013, Target Global (previously known as Target Ventures) exemplifies the invest-abroad trend among Russian venture investors. Last year, the fund invested $13 million in Prosper, a leading US peer-to-peer lending marketplace, and spent a similar amount to acquire a minuscule stake in US food delivery startup Blue Apron. The fund also took part in a $2 million round for Nestpick, a German startup.
In late 2014 Target Global successfully exited from Fyber, a Berlin-based mobile ad solution publisher which was acquired by South Korea’s RTNS Media..
The fund’s portfolio also includes such Russian startups as Eventbrite clone TimePad, online retailer Babadu.ru and online confectionary shop MixVille.ru.
Target Global, which claims over $300 million in assets under management, operates from its offices in San Francisco, Berlin and Moscow. Its backers are “private Russian individuals who wish to invest in [western markets] in order to diversify their investment portfolio,” said Lobanov in a previous exchange with East-West Digital News.
None of these LPs are connected to Russian government circles, or targeted by the western sanctions, Lobanov specified in interviews with Russian media.
