Russia and Belarus have created a joint investment fund, the ‘Russian-Belorussian Venture Investment Fund,’ with 1.4 billion Russian rubles at the initial stage (approximately $23.5 million at the current exchange rate). The fund is being backed by Belorussian Innovation Foundation and RVC, which are key state-owned funds supporting innovation in their respective countries, bringing 50% and 49% of the new fund’s amount, respectively.
An RVC affiliate, Infrafund, is contributing 1%, and will be managing the joint fund during an initial three-year period.
The creation of the fund, which was announced in late December, is presented as part of the two governments’ strategy to “develop a common technological space and venture capital market across the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
The fund will invest in innovative technologies developed in Belarus with a potential to be deployed across the EAEU as well as in projects from Russia which may contribute to accelerate the transition of Belarus towards an innovative economy, said Infrafund General Director Alexander Loktev.
Starting from this year, the new fund will invest up to 25 million rubles (approximately $415,000) at the venture stage in exchange for stakes of at least 25%, and up to 150 million rubles ($2.5 million) in companies at the growth stage.
“The Republic of Belarus is actively developing its venture capital ecosystem. In this regard, the experience gained in recent years by RVC is very interesting to us. [Our cooperation will contribute to] integrate the Russian and Belorussian venture ecosystems,” said Dmitri Kalinin, director of the Belorussian Innovation Fund.
“I do not rule out that later the fund will be joined by investors from other EAEU member states,” he added.
The EAEU aims to favor and organize the economic integration of its member states Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. This union was created in 2014 as a continuation of previous associations Eurasian Economic Space, Eurasian Customs Union (EACU) and Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC).
Source: RVC
