Online reputation management agencies Sidorin Lab and Reputation Lab have attracted $3 million in equity funding from a pool of individual investors in exchange for a 30% stake in each company. Among these investors is Anton Alikov, a partner at Switzerland-based Blackfort Capital.
The fresh funding will be used for business development and software development purposes. The companies is also considering the acquisition of social media monitoring agency IQ Buzz, perhaps with additional funding.
In 2018, Sidorin Lab and Reputation Lab combined generated 165 million rubles in revenues (nearly $2.5 million). Their EBITDA and net profit amounted to 61 million rubles (nearly $950,000) and 9 million rubles (nearly $140,000), respectively.
The Russian market of online reputation management is embryonic. It has been estimated at some 16 billion rubles (around $242 million at the current exchange rate) with the potential to reach 43 billion rubles ($650 million) by 2023.
Ashmanov & Partners, Digital Guru and Kokoc Reputation are among other key players in this field.
Source: Kommersant
