Fastlane Ventures, Prostor Capital, and Runa Capital have shaken hands to combine two sites in the field of online health and medicine: VitaPortal, which has been funded so far by Fastlane, Prostor, and US business angel Esther Dyson, and Zdorovie Online, which is coming from Runa’s portfolio.
Launched in 2011 as a medical news and community resource, Vitaportal.ru has also developed a range of services for people on a diet and other interactive features. Zdorovie Online, meanwhile, had created a medical platform with an in-house technology to store medical data.
ZdorovieOnline.ru has closed as a result of the deal, leaving VitaPortal as the sole brand and site. However, “the merged entity will benefit from Zdorovie Online’s great medical record technology,” said Azamat Ulbashev, VitaPortal’s CEO and co-founder, in an exchange with East-West Digital News. “This technology will be implemented, in particular, in the VitaDoctor service, where users’ questions are answered by physicians.”
The backers of the two sites hope to create the leading medical online resource in Russia. VitaPortal claims that more than 700,000 Russians already use its personalized services. According to the investors’ forecasts, this figure will increase to five million in 2014 as a result of the merger.
Runa Capital and Zdorovie Online’s founder Aleksey Kandikov are investing $1 million and $350,000, respectively, in the merged company “to maintain balance between the shareholders and develop a number of additional services.”
“There is a considerable revenue potential for strong websites in this segment due to the presence of large pharmaceutical corporations who can bring important advertising budgets. With its high quality content, financial possibilities, and following this merger, VitaPortal is likely to become the undisputed leader,” said Stanislav Kosorukov of Prostor Capital to East-West Digital News.
With $20 million under management, Prostor Capital has invested in a diversity of startups – including VitaPortal last year – since its inception in 2011, generally in syndication with Russian or foreign investors. Earlier this year the fund announced plans to create a second, $60 million fund.
Launched in 2010 by French businessman Pascal Clément and KupiVIP founder Oskar Hartmann, Fastlane Ventures has asserted itself as one of the most active investors on the Russian Internet scene.
A Moscow-based technology-focused venture capital firm, Runa Capital has invested in a range of tech companies across the world since inception two years ago.
