Since the national educational system is not providing Russia’s IT industry with enough qualified IT workers, these cadres must be attracted from abroad, said Nikolai Nikiforov, Russian Minister of Communications and Mass Media, in a forum on international investment held in Moscow last week. “The IT industry, indeed, is experiencing an acute shortage of qualified …
Russia needs foreign IT specialists, minister says Read More
While visiting Russia for the first time earlier this week, Facebook’s founder paid a visit to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev after meeting with local IT companies – including search giant Yandex – and technical teams. A high tech aficionado, Medvedev – who served as Russia’s President for four years before becoming Prime Minister last March – personifies …
Mark Zuckerberg visits Moscow, tries wooing Russian programmers to California Read More
Young Russian film makers, musicians, fashion designers, game developers and tech innovators are now offered a new way to raise the early stage financing they need. Several Russian language crowdfunding platforms have been developed lately, allowing would-be creators and entrepreneurs to advertise their projects and secure financing based on Internet users’ micro donations. Backers are …
Crowdfunding platforms make their first steps in Russia Read More
This week, the Russian startup scene has witnessed the launch of a new concept that could potentially target half a billion users around the world: Twistock.com, a site that transforms Twitter social influence into virtual stock value and ultimately material value. Upon registration, Twistock users receive a certain amount of virtual money, or starting capital, …
Singapore-funded Russian startup turns Twitter accounts into stock exchange value Read More
BIT Contest, the largest tech contest in Russia and neighboring countries, held its finale last Thursday at Digital October, a popular tech event venue in Moscow center. This year, more than 1,000 applications were received from all Russian regions as well as from neighboring Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. A special nomination, ‘Global Track,’ has been …
While Moscow streets and sidewalks are crippled by haphazardly and illegally parked automobiles, an online city magazine, The-Village.ru, has launched a sophisticated e-campaign to identify and shame the offenders. Using a free Android application named ‘Parking Douche,’ smartphone users can take a picture of the culprit. The app then uses the user’s IP address, taps …
Android app tracks down and embarrasses Moscow’s worst parking offenders Read More
Speaktoit, a developer of technologies based on natural language conversations, announced last week it has received an investment from Intel’s investment arm, Intel Capital. The investment amount and the startup’s valuation are kept undisclosed. Founded in Russia in October, 2010, Speaktoit attracted angel money in January, 2011. It also received a grant from Skolkovo, the state-sponsored …
Pinterest.com, the much-hyped social network that defines itself as “an online pinboard,” announced last week its first steps in translating its service into other languages, starting with French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish. Pinterest is also pondering other languages, including Russian – which is mentioned between Malay and Swedish on the site’s second priority list. …
The Russian search giant Yandex yesterday announced a new step toward integrating its electronic currency, Yandex.Dengi – which translates as Yandex.Money – with bank systems. Users of this virtual currency can now obtain a MasterCard debit card tied to their Yandex.Dengi account and make payments using funds from Yandex.Dengi. The co-branded card can be used …
Yandex e-currency teams up with MasterCard to issue new payment card Read More
Fast Lane Ventures has partnered with Bonial International Group, a German company specializing in location-based shopping information services, to launch Lokata.ru, one of the first services of this kind in Russia. Lokata is an online and mobile service providing shoppers with the information needed to make smart shopping decisions prior to them even entering the …
German inspired Lokata.ru helps Russian consumers search online and buy offline Read More
PayPal has held discussions with the Russian Post to prepare its entry on the local market, Russian business daily Kommersant reported earlier this week. Beyond the launch of the international virtual currency on the Russian market, a co-branded payment card has been discussed, which could be replenished from PayPal accounts and used to settle purchases, to withdraw cash …
Is Russia becoming a new frontier for US venture capitalists? With local startups and incubators springing up like mushrooms, a number of foreign tech investors have started to operate in the country, which is striving for modernization. Exemplifying the invest in Russia trend is Tiger Global Management, a New York-based international investment management firm. Over …
US venture capitalists go East: Russia’s startups now more appealing Read More
