In late June, the Russian parliament approved controversial amendments to Russia’s anti-terrorist legislation. Drafted by lawmakers Irina Yarovaya and Viktor Ozerov, the new legislation may have deep consequences for people living and using digital networks in Russia. The amendments are yet to be signed by President Putin [which he did on July 7 update]. A substantial part of the …
Earlier this month Moscow-based food delivery startup Chefmarket.ru secured $1.3 million in a funding round led by Mitsui with participation from existing investors, including QIWI co-founder Andrey Romanenko and Russian venture fund AddVenture. The startup aims to reach a $100 million revenue target in 2018. Chefmarket offers home delivery of food products based on recipes from renowned …
Mitsui invests in Russian food delivery startup Chefmarket Read More
An art filter app launched by a Russian programmer, Alexey Moiseenkov, is leading Apple’s App Store ranking in Russia and several neighboring countries – including Estonia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Moldova, Ukraine and Uzbekistan – ahead of Whatsapp, VK, Instagram, Viber, Aliexpress and other traditional leaders in the region. In a totally unexpected surge, the app has been number …
As Russia seeks to develop and diversify international cooperation in the field of technologies, RVC, its state-owned fund of funds for innovation, announced last month that it will open a representative office in Seoul. “Among its key objectives will be to assist Russian technological companies in promoting Russian products and services on the Korean market, …
Russia seeks to bolster tech ties with South Korea Read More
Since the beginning of this year, at least six corporate venture funds have been launched or started operations in Russia. Four of them were created by AFK Sistema, a Russian, LSE-listed conglomerate. Sistema Venture Capital, the most recent one, started operating last month in Moscow. It has raised 10 billion rubles (approximately $154 million at the current exchange rate) to support globally-oriented …
Russian corporations launch giant startup investment programs Read More
Yesterday Runa Capital, a venture investment firm operating globally from its offices in Moscow, London and San Francisco, announced that it has closed its second fund, Runa Capital Fund II, having raised $135 million. As a result, Runa has $270 million under management, taking into account its first fund, which also amounted to $135 million. The firm declined to …
A face recognition app called ‘FindFace‘ is sparking controversy in Russia over the destructive power of new technologies with regards to user privacy. Released in February by NtechLab, a startup established last year in Moscow, FindFace helps put names to faces on a picture. Combining facial recognition software with neural networks, the app will automatically match the image to people’s social media pages on Vkontakte, …
Earlier this month Otkrytie, a major Russian bank, announced that it was in the process of fully acquiring mobile banking startup Rocketbank. The move follows a strategic partnership inked in December 2015. “This partnership has already allowed Rocketbank to attract customers more efficiently, thanks to our strong brand, and accelerate the development of its product. On the …
Last week, the Russian government unveiled some key aspects of its plan to launch an e-commerce platform dedicated to exporting Russian goods. In addition to serving end consumers directly, the platform will seek to cooperate with such international marketplaces as AliExpress, JD.com, eBay and Amazon. It will feature payment, credit, insurance, customs, logistics and other export-related …
Russian government unveils plans to launch e-commerce export platform Read More
Yesterday Grishin Robotics, an international venture capital firm launched in 2012 by Mail.ru Group’s CEO Dmitry Grishin, announced a new $100 million fund to invest in the USA and Europe. Originally focusing exclusively on robotics, the firm is now expanding its investment focus to such areas as collaborative and material handling robots, AI and data analytics, industrial IoT and …
Dmitry Grishin raises second fund to “pursue trillion-dollar opportunity” Read More
Last year saw paradoxical investment trends in Russia’s young e-commerce industry, with venture and private equity investment continuing to fall while a range of offline players started or resumed online projects. On the venture side, investment reached historic lows. According to RMG Partners’ preliminary estimates, just 42 deals were closed, totalling $137 million — down …
Ulmart, a leading Russian e-commerce player, saw its revenues almost stagnate last year, with sales reaching just 62.7 billion rubles, up from approximately 60 billion rubles in 2014, including VAT ($1 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively). The company showed a “slightly positive” EBITDA, Ulmart’s chairman and key shareholder Dmitry Kostygin told Kommersant, a leading business daily, earlier this week. In an email …
Ulmart sees sales slow down amid the crisis but confirms western IPO plans Read More
