Earlier this month VEB Ventures, the venture arm of state-owned development corporation VEB.RF, announced a 520 million ruble investment (some $6.5 million at the pre-war exchange rate) in edtech platform Profilum.
This deal was one of the most sizeable ones of the past months on the local venture scene, which has entered a semi-hibernation phase since Russia attacked Ukraine on Feb. 24 and was subsequently hit by international sanctions.
Founded in 2014, Profilum helps adolescents chooses a professional orientation. In late 2021, the startup had reached a valuation of $11.5 million, according to the Inc. Top 100 startup ranking. Among Profilum previous investors are Genome Venture and the Sistema corporation.
Under plans, Profilum will be used as the basis of a presidential professional orientation program called ‘Ticket for the Future.’
“The edtech market is developing dynamically, with Russia’s 15-17 million school pupils among the fastest-growing user categories. Such a strong involvement from an institutional investor such as VEB reflects the authorities’ intention to scale up this platform across Russia’s school system,” stated Alexey Solovyev, a figure of the Russian venture industry, commenting on the deal.
Source: RB.RU
