The Russian matchmaking service Teamo.ru completed a new round of investment earlier this week with a Japanese venture fund operating in Russia, UMJ Russia. While no details have been disclosed as to the amount involved or Teamo’s valuation, the deal brings total investment to date in the Russian service to more than $2 million. Unlike …
Teamo.ru attracts Japanese money, prepares recurring billing system Read More
Russian e-commerce giant Ozon.ru is considering the aquisition of online footwear retailer Sapato.ru, having received the green light from the antimonopoly authorities on February 1st. Ozon has not yet made a final decision, and is also considering other acquisitions, the company’s PR manager Maria Nazamutdinova told Russian business information site Marker.ru.
Russian Venture Company (RVC), the state-owned fund of funds dedicated to innovation, announced yesterday its cooperation with the Investment and Venture Fund of the Republic of Tatarstan (IVFRT) in the creation of a new international fund of funds. The new fund, named RVC IVFRT LP, will invest in international venture funds focusing on innovative companies.
Russia’s three leading mobile operators, Megafon, MTS and Vimpelcom, announced last week they will provide their subscribers with full common access to their respective mobile payment systems. Over the last two years, Russian mobile operators have developed and diversified their mobile payment systems far beyond traditional premium SMS. The ‘Easy Payment’ of MTS, ‘Mobile Payment’ and …
Russia’s “Big Three” mobile operators join forces to develop m-commerce Read More
“We are considering an initial public offering to possibly take place in 2012 or 2013,” said Vkontakte.ru founder Pavel Durov in an exchange with Russian online publication Gazeta.ru (English version), following informal statements made on Tuesday at a tech conference in Munich. Although no discussions are being held currently with Mail.ru Group, Yandex or Google, a …
While Twitter is gaining traction among the connected Russian elite, Mail.ru Group, the Russian LSE-listed Internet group, announced on Monday the launch of Futubra, a remarkably designed microblogging service. Although some observers have nicknamed it “the Russian Twitter,” Futubra seems closer to Tumblr in terms of functions, with its focus on multimedia content sharing and …
Futubra, Russia’s response to Twitter, aims to set new standard in microblogging Read More
Paris based international streaming music service Deezer launched its Russian language version yesterday with few visible signs of adaptation to the local market. Russia is the latest region for Deezer’s internationally deployed service. Deezer CEO Axel Dauchez expects revenues from online music on the Russian market will increase at least two fold each year over …
Global streaming music service Deezer launches in Russia with few competitive advantages Read More
Created from the ground up less than half a year ago, ResumUp has suddenly assumed a presence on the Russian startup scene. From a “pretty obvious idea” – building infographic résumés using data from social media profiles – ResumUp aims at no less than “setting a new standard in career management, online and social recruiting,” …
St. Peterburg startup aims to set a new global standard for online résumés Read More
Viadeo, a global professional social network with over 40 million members, and Sanoma Independent Media (SIM), Russia’s leading glossy magazine publisher, announced yesterday a joint venture agreement to develop Viadeo’s network in Russia. The deal will combine the local strengths of SIM asset Rb.ru, one of Russia’s top business websites with a powerful professional community …
Viadeo teams up with Sanoma Independent Media to launch Russian version Read More
One of the Russia’s most anticipated nationwide startup contests, Startup of the Year held court with a swarm of young entrepreneurs, concepts and high tech demonstrations last Thursday on the campus of the Moscow Higher School of Economics (HSE). The annual event takes place every December and is organized by HSE business incubator HSE Inc.
IBM and SAP inked cooperation agreements almost simultaneously this week with the Skolkovo Foundation, the state sponsored organization in charge of developing a state-of-the-art innovation hub near Moscow. Both companies intend to create research and development facilities at Skolkovo. IBM’s researchers will work on smart technologies for use in oilfields, mobile NFC technologies, and road …
Yandex CEO Arkady Volozh unveiled ambitions to expand into the European, Latin American and Asian markets at the TechCrunch Moscow international conference yesterday. The move will put the Russian search giant on a course to more directly confront dominance by Google on these markets. With its Turkish version launched in September this year, Yandex ceased …
Yandex eyes European, Latin American and Asian markets – Poland could be next Read More
