Elevator Ventures, Raiffeisen Bank International’s corporate fund, and Speedinvest, a major Berlin-based VC fund, are backing Russian agritech startup Agro.Club in a $1.5 million seed funding round. Founded in 2018, Agro.Club defines itself as “a mobile platform connecting growers, their suppliers and crop purchasers into a single network.” It says it is building “an efficient …
The Russian food delivery startup Elementaree.ru has secured $5 million from the French vegetable giant Bonduelle and Russia’s sovereign wealth fund RDIF, confirming earlier announcements. An undisclosed individual investor also took part in the deal, the Russian media reported. The details of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 2013 by Olga Zinovieva and Silard …
International dating giant Dating.com Group has launched a $50 million corporate venture fund, the group’s co-founder Dmitry Volkov announced last week at an industry event in New York City. The new vehicle will invest “up to $5 million” in online dating companies from the seed to Series B stages. The Dating.com fund has already made an …
Dating.com Group launches $50 million corporate VC fund Read More
Last week Severstal, the Russian steel giant, announced it will invest this year 6.7 billion rubles (roughly $100 million) in IT and digital projects, up 7% from 2019. The group’s projects for 2020 span from “new solutions for managing material flows and optimizing the quality of finished products” to building “new technological networks to improve …
Severstal goes digital: $100 million to be invested in 2020 Read More
Four major Russian retailers – Beeline, Hoff, M.Video-Eldorado Group and X5 Retail Group – are teaming up to launch the Retail Innovation Tech Alliance (RITA), a startup scouting initiative in Russia and abroad. RITA will be seeking innovative solutions in a variety of fields, including e-commerce, transport and logistics, consumer experience, quality of goods, point-of-sale …
Major Russian retailers team up to scout startups globally Read More
[Updated Jan. 21] Rostelecom, the national telecom operator, is in the process of acquiring 31% of FRII Invest, the investment vehicle of the Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF, or FRII in Russian). This is Russia’s biggest fund for early-stage startups, launched in 2013 as an instrument to support the emergence of a strong startup industry in Russia. Rostelecom’s is …
State-controlled corporation backs Russia’s leading startup investment fund Read More
RVC, the Russian state-owned fund of funds dedicated to innovation, and RZD (Russian Railways) have teamed up to launch to two venture funds for industrial and digital investments. Scheduled for launch in 2021, the funds will support early-stage projects which have “the potential of developing synergies with the railways company and increasing its business efficiency.” …
Russian Railways teams up with RVC to launch transport tech funds Read More
Last week Severstal, the Russian steel and mining giant, announced the launch of its open innovation portal. Made available in both Russian and English languages, the site features Severstal’s existing initiatives for cooperating with startups, innovative teams and industry experts from across the world. These include the Severstal tech park, the Steel Tech startup accelerator, two investment vehicles (Severstal Ventures …
Steel giant Severstal aims to attract innovators from across the world Read More
The thriving Belarusian online gaming scene saw an important move last month with Playrix, a global Russian-founded gaming giant, investing in local leader Vizor, as reported by the local media. The details of the deal were not disclosed, but the companies presented it as “a strategic partnership,” while Vizor shareholders claimed they gave priority to “smart …
Russian gaming giant Playrix invests in Belarusian Vizor Read More
RVC, the Russian state-owned fund of funds dedicated to innovation, is teaming up with Japanese corporation Mizuho to create a investment fund dedicated to medical technologies. The news was reported Thursday by news agency TASS, based on an exchange with RVC’s general manager Alexander Povalko at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. Povalko added that …
Russian and Japanese partners aim to launch medtech fund and tech center Read More
Mail.ru Group, an LSE-listed Russian Internet major, has just announced the acquisition of a controlling stake with a capital injection in the transportation service company YouDrive. Proxima Capital Group, a Moscow-based investment firm, took part in the deal as a “partner,” stated Mail.ru Group; but neither the nature of this partnership nor the amount of the deal …
Mail.ru Group acquires controlling stake in car-sharing company with leadership ambitions Read More
Delimobil, a leading car-sharing company in Russia, is seeking to raise at least $60 million, according to Russian business daily Kommersant. The company, of which 77% is owned by Luxembourg-based holding Mikro Kapital Group, has hired Rothschild & Co to help them secure the deal. According to Kommersant’s unnamed sources, Delimobil intends to claim a $300 …
Car-sharing company Delimobil seeks massive capital injection before potential IPO Read More
