According to a report published last week by US publication Business Insider, a range of western tech firms are users of FindFace, a controversial face recognition technology developed by Russian startup NtechLab. FindFace matches faces against social media accounts, regardless of privacy rights, among other facial recognition capabilities. Its approach is similar to that developed by US …
Russian online video major IVI (ivi.ru) announced today a $250 million funding round involving top state and private investors. This is one of the biggest deals of the past years on the Russian tech scene, and an all-time record in the online video segment. The consortium of investors includes several big names, combining two major …
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, has teamed up with its Emirati peer Mubadala to invest “more than 1 billion rubles” (approximately $13 million at the current exchange rate) in Russian face recognition startup NtechLab. Touting itself as “the global leader in computer vision systems based on artificial intelligence and neural networks,” NtechLab provides solutions …
As the global digital music market pursues solid growth, last week saw three deals involving companies from Russia or with Russian founders. Sberbank acquires Zvooq Just a day before touting its transformation into a tech “universe,” Sber announced the acquisition of Zvooq, one of the most established Russian music platforms. No details about the transaction were disclosed. Founded in 2010 by UK …
From Moscow to Berlin, digital music startups attract top investors Read More
iFarm, a startup founded in Siberia but now headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, has secured $4 million from an international pool of investors led by Gagarin Capital. This California-based VC firm had led a previous $1 million round in early 2019. iFarm’s turnkey solutions “enable anyone to grow fresh vegetables, berries, greens and edible flowers for …
Norma Investment, a venture firm affiliated to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, has taken part in a $20 million round of funding for Russian game publisher 110 Industries. GEM Capital, an investment company founded by a top executive from the Russian oil and gas industry, and Sergey Kornikhin, a film producer, also contributed to the …
Major changes took place in late June on the Russian e-commerce and e-payment scenes. Yandex, the Russian Internet major, and Sberbank, the state-controlled financial and technology giant, announced an agreement “to reorganize their two joint ventures” – Yandex.Market and Yandex.Money. In plain language, this is a divorce. Yandex is to own entirely the e-commerce platform …
While divorcing with Sberbank, Yandex raises $1 billion to finance e-commerce projects Read More
While the UK has traditionally been a key destination for Russian tech entrepreneurs and investors, two recent deals involving sharing-economy startups are confirming that even Brexit uncertainties are not stopping the trend. Thus, Impulse VC has just led a $6 million Series A round for London-based GuestReady. This three-year-old service lets shared-economy hosts manage their business …
Improvado.io, a US-based marketing solution provider with Russian roots, has secured $5 million from several investors including two Russian funds: Impulse VC, which is reportedly affiliated to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, and Cabra VC. According to the business daily Vedomosti, which reported the news earlier this week, this capital injection comes as the second part …
Marketing solution startup secures $8 million from US and Russian investors Read More
GdeMaterial, Russian DIY marketplace, has attracted $500,000 from Niels Tonsen, Burkhard Binder and Dominik Picker, co-founders of fashion retailer Lamoda.ru, as well as from Vadim Fedotov, ex-CEO of Groupon Russia and Gazprom-Media Technologies. The news was reported earlier this weeek by Russian business daily Kommersant. Other investors included Impulse VC, a venture fund which is reportedly affiliated to …
Russian DIY marketplace secures $500,000 from international business angels and VCs Read More
In late April Appodeal raised $8 million in a round led by Impulse VC, a venture fund which is reportedly affiliated to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. This investment brings the total funding raised to date by the startup to $11.5 million, according to CrunchBase. As part of the deal, the fund has received a minority stake in …
Impulse VC leads $8 million round for Russian-founded Appodeal Read More
Sergey Solonin, co-founder of Qiwi, a major NASDAQ-listed Russian e-payment operator, confimed that he personally invested Telegram’s ICO private presale. The Russian businessman revealed this investment informally during the Russian Investment Forum, an international business event which is taking place these days in Sochi on the Black Sea. [Update Feb. 26: Among the other Russian …
