The corporate venture fund of MTS, a leading Russian mobile operator, is investing 125 million rubles (around $1.7 million at the current exchange rate) in personal finance app Coinkeeper. Coinkeeper claims 350,000 users all over the world whom it helps “make the right financial decisions” from expense forecasting, to advanced analytics, to the management of …
MTS corporate fund invests in financial app Coinkeeper Read More
Earlier this month AB Capital Group, the owner of international affiliate network Admitad, announced an investment of $3 million in cashback service company LetyShops. Founded by Ukrainian entrepreneurs in 2015, LetyShops is now headquartered Csomád, Pest, Hungary. Its service is available in seven languages, claiming a total of 2400 online shops and 12 million users. It stands as “one of the top cashback …
Admitad owner invests $3 million in cashback service Read More
3D Bioprinting Solutions, a resident of the Skolkovo Foundation Biomedical Cluster, recently agreed to collaborate with KFC in developing an innovative technology aimed at making chicken using a 3D bio-printer. The two sides came up with the idea as a means to tap into the healthy lifestyle trend, which includes healthy eating, and to meet …
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 …
In 2018, Vladimir Putin announced a $1.7 billion genetic program, comparing the potential of genetic engineering to a new “nuclear bomb”. The following year, the president’s alleged eldest daughter, Maria Vorontsova, joined the program’s advisory council and, this week, state-owned oil giant Rosneft got involved. Russian online publication The Bell looks with some skepticism at the players …
Rosneft and Putin’s alleged daughter lead search for ‘Russian gene’ Read More
Russian petrochemicals leader Sibur has teamed up with Brochesia, an Italian provider of software solutions for wearable devices, to support its network digitalization effort. Brochesia’s smart glasses and augmented reality solutions will help the Russian group enhance several production processes, including maintenance and support services, using AR and developing remote assistance procedures. The adoption of these solutions …
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
Crunchbase and East-West Digital News are teaming up to cover key tech and venture trends in Eastern Europe. Since January 2019, EWDN chief editor Adrien Henni has offered a regular column to highlight the most notable industry facts and trends as well as promising tech innovations from this region. This full-year 2019 review lists the most important investment and …
