Adrien Henni

Adrien Henni is the founder of International Digital News, a tech news and research agency dedicated to the emerging tech scenes of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. With nearly 20 years of experience in the high-tech and venture businesses in France and Eastern Europe, he advises a variety of startups, investors and other organizations. He is a regular contributor to industry publications and speaks at conferences in Western and Eastern Europe, Asia, and America.

avatar

AI-powered service marketplace raises $17 million to “disrupt the classifieds market”

September 23, 2018

YouDo.com, a platform that matches people requesting and providing day-to-day services, has raised $17 million in an equity funding round led by mobile operator MTS, as reported by the business daily Kommersant. MTS put $12 million on the table, while undisclosed amounts were brought by Sistema Venture Capital (one of the investment vehicles of Sistema, a …

AI-powered service marketplace raises $17 million to “disrupt the classifieds market” Read More

Alibaba and Mail.Ru Group join forces to create “one-stop platform for social, communications, gaming and shopping”

October 15, 2018

Alibaba, Mail.Ru Group, Russian telco MegaFon and sovereign fund Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) today announced a “strategic partnership” that encompasses such a wide area as e-commerce, social media, online entertainment and communications combined. The agreement aims to leverage on the existing businesses of AliExpress Russia, the B2C marketplace owned by Alibaba which controls a …

Alibaba and Mail.Ru Group join forces to create “one-stop platform for social, communications, gaming and shopping” Read More

Alibaba, Mail.Ru and Russian Direct Investment Fund in talks to launch e-commerce platform

August 30, 2018

Alibaba, Mail.Ru Group and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) are in discussions to create an e-commerce joint-venture in Russia. No official statements have been made, but unnamed insiders have told the news agency Interfax and the business daily Kommersant that the discussions are “at an advanced stage.” Alibaba is a major player on the Russian …

Alibaba, Mail.Ru and Russian Direct Investment Fund in talks to launch e-commerce platform Read More

House-call doctor service DOC+ secures $9 million from Vostok New Ventures, Yandex and Baring Vostok

August 20, 2018

The Russian house-call doctor service DOC+ has secured $9 million in a round led by Swedish fund Vostok New Ventures VNV), with participation from existing shareholders Yandex and Baring Vostok Capital Partners. The deal, which took place in the second quarter of this year, according to the VNV’s latest financial report, was reported in details yesterday by …

House-call doctor service DOC+ secures $9 million from Vostok New Ventures, Yandex and Baring Vostok Read More

From illegitimate data-sharing to tracking “interest in treason:” Facebook’s handling of private data raises concerns in Russia

August 8, 2018

Roskomnadzor, the Russian telecom and Internet regulator, has requested Facebook to provide explanations about its past data-sharing partnerships with at least 60 mobile device makers, including Apple, BlackBerry, Microsoft and Samsung. As reported last week by the business daily Kommersant, Roskomnadzor’s move followed a request from the Association of Professional Social Media and Messengers Users (APPSIM in Russian) …

From illegitimate data-sharing to tracking “interest in treason:” Facebook’s handling of private data raises concerns in Russia Read More

Mail.Ru Group surrenders carpooling activity to global leader BlaBlaCar

November 12, 2020

BlaBlaCar, the carpooling giant born in France, is consolidating its leadership on the Russian market with the acquisition of BeepCar, a competing service launched by Mail.Ru Group last year. The terms of the deals are expected to be disclosed in Mail.Ru Group’s next reports. BeepCar traffic will be redirected to BlaBlaCar “as of this autumn,” …

Mail.Ru Group surrenders carpooling activity to global leader BlaBlaCar Read More

Russia’s Leader and China’s Shenzhen Capital launch $100 million tech fund

July 16, 2018

Russian asset management company Leader has teamed up with Shenzhen Capital Group to create a new tech fund. The news was reported yesterday by Russian business daily Kommersant, which cited exchanges with Leader and other sources with knowledge of the deal. Dubbed ‘Russian-Chinese Technological Fund’ (RCTF), the fund plans to invest $100 million in such fields …

Russia’s Leader and China’s Shenzhen Capital launch $100 million tech fund Read More

IIDF, Russia’s largest startup fund, celebrates 5 years of operations

December 26, 2018

The Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF, or FRII in Russian), Russia’s biggest fund for early-stage startups, has announced the results of its operations since inception. The fund launched in mid-2013 as an instrument to support the emergence of a strong startup industry in Russia. It initially received the equivalent of $200 million – a huge …

IIDF, Russia’s largest startup fund, celebrates 5 years of operations Read More

Russian state-backed fund wants to tokenize Siberian diamonds, gold and gas

May 15, 2018

The Far East Development Fund, which is full owned by state development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB), has partnered with Singapore-based Diamundi to launch of a new cryptocurrency, the ‘D1 Coin,’ backed by Siberian diamonds. Diamonds are a traditionally illiquid asset class, but their tokenization means that anyone will be able to buy, own and sell a fractional …

Russian state-backed fund wants to tokenize Siberian diamonds, gold and gas Read More

Far behind the US, well ahead of Russia: Europe’s VC market reaches new heights

May 15, 2018

Listen to the audio version of this article: EU, Turkish and Israeli startups raised a record €25 billion in 2017 – up €8.6 billion (+52.4%) from 2016, which was also a record year  increase. These and other key numbers and trends are revealed in “Next Station: Europe,” a new industry report published by Tech.eu with support …

Far behind the US, well ahead of Russia: Europe’s VC market reaches new heights Read More

Why Russia is banning Telegram: FSB concerned by cryptocurrency project, not message encryption

April 20, 2018

The official reason for banning Telegram in Russia – its refusal to let the secret service decipher user messages, as required by Russian law, to “prevent terrorism” – might not be the real one. Revealed today by the Russian business daily RBC, an informal note written by an employee of the Federal Security Service (FSB), …

Why Russia is banning Telegram: FSB concerned by cryptocurrency project, not message encryption Read More

SDVentures invests $2 million in top US Blockchain fund

April 17, 2018

Social Discovery Ventures (SDVentures), an international technology and investment group with Russian roots, has contributed $2 million to a new $150 million fund launched by Blockchain Capital. The news was reported in late March by Russian online publication Firrma.ru based on its exchanges with SDVentures. Founded in 2013, San-Francisco based Blockchain Capital touts itself as a “the …

SDVentures invests $2 million in top US Blockchain fund Read More

Scroll to Top

This site is under maintenance. Sorry for the inconvenience.

This site is under maintenance. Sorry for the inconvenience.