A Russian web site that served as a support group for LGBT teenagers has been blacklisted by the authorities and will likely be blocked within the country, news reports said Monday. The site’s name Deti-404 (Children-404), after the online HTTP error message for “page not found,” may prove portentous if Russia’s Internet watchdog Roskomnadzor considers the site to be in violation of a federal law that regulates online …
Anews, an international global news-reading service with a built-in behavioral advertising network, has received $2.7 million from TMT Investments, Run Capital, 101 Startup and several individual investors. As reported by Rusbase, TMT Investments and Run Capital each invested $1 million, in exchange for minority stakes in the company. “With its strong team, with a wealth …
News aggregator Anews raises $2.7 million for further international expansion Read More
Russia’s media watchdog has issued a warning to an online news site for publishing a religiously themed caricature that lampooned “one of the faiths,” despite an appeal to avoid such cartoons in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attack. In line with Russia’s law on extremism, the caricature published by the Respublika news site was seen “to incite various sorts of enmity,” a spokesman for the Roskomnadzor media watchdog, Vadim Ampelonsky, …
Russia’s media watchdog slaps site with warning over religious cartoon Read More
Vaizra Investments, the fund belonging to VKontakte founders Lev Leviev and Vyacheslav Mirilashvili, has invested in startups Moovit and Boxed. Moovit is an Israeli app which helps users to plan journeys on public transport, and Boxed is a US app for wholesale buyers. Moovit monitors levels of traffic and the schedules of different forms of public transport in …
Whenever you spot someone on the Moscow metro taking a photo with their mobile phone, chances are you have just witnessed a combination of two things that are widely popular in the Russian capital. Transporting an unparalleled 9 million weekday commuters on its 12 lines, Moscow’s metro boasts a number of stations that wouldn’t look out of place as side wings of the Palace of Versailles.
Online media consumption is a major part of the Russian Internet. This is due in large part to the average user accessing videos through their social media accounts. Most Russian social networking sites also provide users with free (and now legal) ways to watch their favorite TV shows and movies online. Recent eMarketer research confirms that …
Russians are world leaders in online video viewing Read More
GeoCV, a startup which is developing a mobile app for creating 3D-models of interiors using mobile sensors, has received $100k investment from Starta Capital and the Moscow Seed Fund. Starta Capital provided a third of the funding, with the rest coming from the Moscow Seed Fund. GeoCV will also receive a further $50k from Starta Capital in the …
3D mobile app startup developer GeoCV closes seed funding round Read More
CTC Media, a major Russian media company, yesterday announced the acquisition of a majority stake in CarambaTV, a producer of digital and transmedia content. CTC Media acquired a 51% stake for 148 million rubles (approximately $2.2 million at the current exchange rate). The transaction included the Carambatv.ru and +100500 websites, which together attract over 2 million unique visitors each …
CTC Media acquires online video content provider CarambaTV Read More
Last week Croice, whose mobile app allows you to create photo stories with a background audio, announced its first round of financing with $500,000 brought in by venture fund Imperious Group. Launched earlier this year by Russian entrepreneur Vadim Zhernov, the St. Petersburg-based startup presents its app as “a new media format.” The photo stories, named …
Croice secures $500,000 from Imperious Group to develop “new format of photo stories” Read More
– “Hey there, I’m just calling to wake you up,” I said a little awkwardly. – “Thanks. Where are you from?” replied a female voice with a thick Irish accent. – “The UK. You’re from Ireland, right?” – “How could you tell?” she said wryly. – “The flag at the top of the screen.” It took 9 months to be …
Wakie, the social alarm clock that lets you wake up strangers, finally arrives on iOS Read More
Last week Life.SREDA, the venture arm of Russian finance group Life, announced its investment in mobile bank Rocketbank. The amount of the transaction has not been disclosed, but an unnamed source close to the deal told Russian tech blog Firrma.ru that the fund’s stake in Rocketbank does not exceed 10%. Life, which is made up of seven commercial banks across Russia, …
In the opinion of GeoCV CEO Anton Yakubenko, a graduate of the computer graphics laboratory at Moscow State University, a global 3D revolution is coming. Starting in 2015, smartphones and tablets will have 3D options. GeoCV is creating a mobile application for mobile devices of the future. The idea of the GeoCV mobile app was born when …
Moscow university graduate prepares for “global 3D revolution” Read More
