East-West Digital News

Yandex’s English-language search results return more conspiracy-promoting content than other search engines

December 16, 2021 December 16, 2021

Four scholars from Swiss and German universities studied “the presence of pages promoting conspiracy theories” across the world’s main search engines by “conducting a comparative algorithm audit to examine the distribution of conspiratorial information” in their search results. Juhi Kulshrestha, Mykola Makhortykh, Roberto Ulloa and Aleksandra Urman used a virtual agent-based infrastructure to “sytematically collect search outputs for …

Yandex’s English-language search results return more conspiracy-promoting content than other search engines Read More

Former US citizen and Ulmart co-owner August Meyer arrested in St. Petersburg

December 15, 2021 December 16, 2021

August Meyer, co-owner of cosmetics chain Rive Gauche and former co-owner of now defunct online retail Ulmart — was arrested Wednesday last week in St. Petersburg. Meyer and his wife, Inna Meyer, are suspected of embezzling 2.4 billion rubles ($32.6 million at the current exchange rate) from state-owned bank Sberbank on the pretext of developing Ulmart shortly …

Former US citizen and Ulmart co-owner August Meyer arrested in St. Petersburg Read More

MTS acquires Russian-founded biometrics provider VisionLabs

December 15, 2021 December 15, 2021

Intema, the AI accelerator and venture fund launched by mobile operator MTS this past September, is set to acquire biometrics firm VisionLabs for 7 billion rubles ($95 million at the current exchange rate). Founded in Russia in 2012, this developer of AI-powered computer vision solutions quickly drew the attention of top global digital players. Sber (at that time ‘Sberbank’) invested in the company in …

MTS acquires Russian-founded biometrics provider VisionLabs Read More

Russian-born startup raises $3 million to make students’ education dreams come true

December 14, 2021 December 14, 2021

StudyFree, an edtech startup born in Russia in 2018, has just secured $3 million to continue its international expansion. The investor pool includes I2BF Global Ventures and TMT Investments, two funds with Russian connections, Techstars, as well as Andrey Doronichev and Mikita Mikado. The former, Google’s ex-director of product management, is a figure of the Russian-speaking community …

Russian-born startup raises $3 million to make students’ education dreams come true Read More

New East Tech Awards: Highlighting the region’s best startups and investors (deadline: Dec. 17)

December 14, 2021 December 24, 2021

New East Tech Awards — an event intended for both startups and investors — aims to highlight the strongest players in the VC market and provide them exceptional collaboration opportunities, networking and resources. Startups from the ‘New East’ (Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Balkans) as well as VC funds, business angels and accelerators investing in …

New East Tech Awards: Highlighting the region’s best startups and investors (deadline: Dec. 17) Read More

Skolkovo to host new tech park for “greener technologies, production processes and supply chains”

December 13, 2021 December 13, 2021

Last week, on the sidelines of the Open Innovations international forum, Skolkovo Foundation and Helyx Technologies inked a cooperation agreement to implement a “green tech park.” The initiative builds on the GreenTech Startup Booster, launched last year, which is now touted as “the largest international program for the development and implementation of technological projects in the field of ecology.” The new …

Skolkovo to host new tech park for “greener technologies, production processes and supply chains” Read More

Nobel Prize winners’ tech anticipations encapsulated at major Moscow conference

December 10, 2021 December 13, 2021

This year’s edition of Open Innovations — one of Russia’s top tech events — was marked by the participation of holders of Nobel, Fields, Wolf and Abel Prizes, leading Russian and foreign scientists and futurists, alongside representatives of corporations, businesses and government bodies. They shared their vision of the future with over a million of viewers from 70 countries followed expert presentations. …

Nobel Prize winners’ tech anticipations encapsulated at major Moscow conference Read More

Baring Vostok invests $13 million in leading Russian marketing automation company

December 10, 2021 December 10, 2021

Baring Vostok, a leading Moscow-based PE/VC firm operating essentially in Russia and neighbouring countries, has invested $13 million in a customer data platform for marketing automation called Mindbox. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Forbes Russia reported that Baring had received a minority stake in exchange for its investment, while Mindbix employees were …

Baring Vostok invests $13 million in leading Russian marketing automation company Read More

Flint Capital’s new $103 million fund already claims two successful exits

December 9, 2021 December 10, 2021

In June this year Flint Capital, a Boston-based venture firm with Russian roots, closed its second venture fund, attracting $103 million to invest in startups from Seed, to Series A and B stage startups. The firm publicly announced its new fund only this week, as it already invested in no less than 18 startups with two successful exits — Loom …

Flint Capital’s new $103 million fund already claims two successful exits Read More

From unmanned factories to harsh workshops: The present and future of industrial digitalization discussed at top Moscow conference

December 8, 2021 December 17, 2021

It is still difficult for industrial companies to understand why they are in need of digital transformation. The ideal future for the industry will be not just the automation of the existing processes, but the establishment of new business models. This and other topics were discussed at Nobel Vision. Open Innovations 2.0, a major international conference held yesterday at Skolkovo …

From unmanned factories to harsh workshops: The present and future of industrial digitalization discussed at top Moscow conference Read More

VK ownership changes have both political and business motives, say Russian pundits

December 7, 2021 December 8, 2021

While the restructure in VK (ex-Mail.ru Group)’s ownership announced last week is making the Kremlin’s control over Russian social media even stronger, business motives are also involved, believe insiders. As reported by The Bell, Sogaz is said to be the real managing partner here, even though technically speaking, the new ownership structure at VK is a diarchy with …

VK ownership changes have both political and business motives, say Russian pundits Read More

“Engineering joy:” Sber’s new smart media speaker brings music, movies, gaming, food and much more to Russian homes

December 6, 2021 December 7, 2021

The technology ambitions of Sber, Russia’s state-controlled financial giant, were demonstrated again yesterday as the company presented its new smart media speaker. Sber claims the device was “created with the latest product design trends in mind” and touts it as a “one-of-a-kind in its category.” Christened ‘SberBox Time,’ the device combines the functionality of three …

“Engineering joy:” Sber’s new smart media speaker brings music, movies, gaming, food and much more to Russian homes Read More

This site is under maintenance. Sorry for the inconvenience.

This site is under maintenance. Sorry for the inconvenience.