Russian billionaire Zakhar Smushkin — chairman of the Ilim pulp and paper group and #122 in the Forbes ranking of top Russian businessmen — intends to invest 400 million rubles in an adtech startup called Vieweo.
This capital injection (equivalent to $5.5 million at the current exchange rate) will be made until the end of this year, as reported by the Russian media, “as part of a Series A round.”
Vieweo has developed an app that allows users to purchase fashion items worn by TV series characters. Currently the app works with two Russian programs, Evening Urgant (named after a famous TV host and actor) and Fashion Verdict, with more videos available soon.
The fresh funding will allow the Russian startup to continue product development, fine-tune its object recognition software, and launch marketing campaigns.
Vieweo founder Leonid Blyashov says that the object recognition approach is based on the “use of neural networks to process video content.”
“I’m not used to investing in startups, but this one is an exception,” Smushkin was quoted as saying. “Interactive TV is developing towards unlimited possibilities to interact with content, purchase products and services.”
