Last week, Russian online local-search service Yell.ru announced that it has secured $11 million, which includes $8 million from Vostok Nafta and $3 million from current investor AB Kinnevik.
In addition to providing a search engine, Yell.ru offers user reviews about local companies and services. “More than a third of all online Russians will use Yell during 2014 to look for restaurants, doctors, shopping opportunities, and more,” Vostok Nafta claims – which would increase the service’s expected audience to tens of millions of users.
Yell.ru, however, will have to measure itself with Russia’s search giant Yandex, which has just launched a similar service to find services and businesses in Russian cities.
Other players operating in the same segment include Altergeo.ru, Flamp.ru, Tulp.ru, and Foursquare, which launched a Russian-language version of its service in 2011.
Nonetheless, Vostok Nafta noted that “Yell has several listed comparable peers in other markets which focus on local search and reviews, most notably Yelp.com in the US.”
The Swedish fund also announced that it will now “look at similar business opportunities beyond Russia, chiefly, but not exclusively, in emerging markets.”
