Sber, the state-controlled financial and digital giant, and RVC (Russian Venture Company, now affiliated to the sovereign wealth fund RDIF) yesterday announced plans to launch a joint $100 million fund for early-stage tech startups.
This is a substantial amount for Russia, where annual domestic venture investment volumes are in the hundreds of millions of US dollars.
The fund will target startups based in Russia as well as foreign with plans to enter the Russian market. Portfolio companies will also benefit from the RDIF’s international partner network and potential synergies with the Sber ecosystem.
Sber President Herman Gref regards this initiative as “the first step toward the implementation of Russia’s Innovative Development Strategy and the reform of development institutions.”
According to him, Sber and the RDIF “aim to establish a culture of technological and science-intensive entrepreneurship in Russia to cultivate unicorn startups that will be competitive in the international arena.”
Anatoly Braverman, RDIF’s First Deputy CEO, believes the new fund will contribute to “fully unlocking the potential of Russian innovative start-ups and boosting their competitiveness,” and “help them become global leaders.”
