The French video game startup Blacknut intends to expand to Russia by the end of this year, as reported last week by Les Echos based on exchanges with Blacknut’s CEO Olivier Avaro. Blacknut offers instant access to games with no installation or dedicated hardware required. Games can be played virtually anywhere, at home or outside. The company …
GeoCV, a New York-headquartered startup with Russian roots, has secured $1.8 million from Runa Capital, a venture fund with Russian roots operating globally, its existing investor Moscow-based fund Emery Capital, and several US business angels. The funds will be used to develop the product and develop sales in the US market. “Our goal is to become …
3D modelling app maker GeoCV secures $1.8 million from Runa Capital and Emery Capital Read More
E-merchants selling their services and goods via Vkontakte (VK), the number one social network in Russia, can receive payments from VK users more easily, with the money being sent to administrators and editors of events, public pages and communities in messages. In addition to stimulating social commerce, these features are presented a first step towards transforming public …
VK now supports payments to e-merchants and online communities Read More
AliExpress, the Alibaba subsidiray, has just launched ‘AliExpress LIVE,’ a video service which allows customers to buy the displayed goods immediately. Thus sellers, bloggers and brands will benefit from a new channel to promote their offerings on the marketplace in connection with social networks. The video service is available only to brands and bloggers approved by AliExpress. There …
AliExpress launches first e-commerce live video service in Russia Read More
Rusnano is considering to launch a Russian-Arabic direct investment fund, business daily Vedomosti wrote last week, confirming earlier reports. The Russian state-owned nanotech giant has already identified a group of potential investors from the Middle East, Lyubov Timofeeva, Senior Analyst at Business Strategy Department at Rusnano, told the business daily. Vedomosti has learned from an …
Rusnano prepares to launch Russian-Arabic tech fund Read More
The recently created venture arm of Bank Saint Peterburg has made its first investment — a capital injection of 200 million rubles, or some $3.2 million at the current exchange rate — in Babadu, a major online retailer of children’s goods. The news was reported earlier this month by Russian venture blog Firrma.ru based on …
Bank Saint Petersburg invests in children’s goods online retailer Babadu Read More
Russia’s national savings bank Sberbank has announced the launch of a risk theory and data analysis laboratory in partnership with Moscow State University (MSU) earlier this week. Dubbed “CMC-Sberbank,” the new lab will function as an R&D center focusing on statistical methods for big data analysis and machine learning. The laboratory is intended to become a leading …
Fintech Lab, a Russian platform that aims to unite fintech players and startups, is launching its first acceleration program in Moscow. The project has been initiated by major Russian and foreign banks such as AK BARS Bank, VTB24, Bank Saint Petersburg and Home Credit Bank in partnership with Mastercard. Accenture, which helped to launch fintech accelerators …
Avito.ru, Russia’s leading classifieds platform, saw its revenues reach $54.4 million in Q4 2016, up 54% from Q4 2015, says the recent activity report by Swedish investment company Vostok New Ventures, formerly known as Vostok Nafta Investment. According to the report, in Q4 2016 the company’s adjusted EBITDA margin reached 47% ($25.3 million), compared to 42% …
Russian online classifieds giant Avito delivers 75% revenue growth in 2016 Read More
Last week the State Duma, Russia’s lower house or parliament, approved in the first reading a bill to limit foreign owners to take more than a 20% stake in online streaming services operating in Russia. The news was reported by the news agency Interfax. The new legislation applies to audio and video services with over …
New law to restrict foreign ownership of online streaming services Read More
By voting amendments to the legislation on the provision of services earlier this month, the Russian parliament sounded the death knell for the Universal Electronic Card (UEC) project. A tangible manifestation of Russia’s all-embracing e-government ideas, the UEC was originally intended to incorporate or replace virtually all existing identifying information, from ID cards to student IDs and …
Samsung has partnered with the Institute for Systems Programming of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISP-RAS) to use a tool for static program analysis developed by the ISP’s researchers. Russian business daily Vedomosti reported about this partnership last week, based on exchanges with the ISP’s director Arutyun Avetysyan and Marat Guriev, GR Director at Samsung Electronics CIS. Samsung has invested …
Russian research institute provides Samsung with code analysis tool Read More
