Russia’s fintech investors are not asleep in the summer with yet another fund announced last week. Dubbed ‘Target Global Fintech Opportunities,’ the new investment vehicle will target fintech startups operating in Russia, or abroad with Russian founders, or foreign ones with plans to enter the Russian market.
Sergey Solonin, a co-founder of payment service provider Qiwi, is the main partner and co-investor in the fund, while Target Global, an international venture firm with Russian roots, will manage it.
“I can see a big number of unoccupied niches in the Russian fintech industry. There are opportunities to create new credit, insurance, brokerage or payment products, as well as projects related to cryptocurrencies and Blockchain,” Solonin said in media interviews.
Target Global’s general partner Mike Lobanov told East-West Digital News that the fund will invest some $10 million “in the near future.”
Some media reports have mentioned that the fund is targeting an amount of $100 million, but Lobanov declined to confirm this information.
In the first stage, Target Global Fintech Opportunities intends to invest up to $500,000 in each project. The fund will also help startups strike partnerships with Russian banks and such payment service companies as Qiwi.
Over the past few weeks, several Russian firms have announced plans to invest massively in financial technologies. Thus FinTech Credit Fund aims to raise $200 million by the end of this year.
