Qwenty, a Moscow based startup developing a mobile app for geolocated job searches, has raised $300,000 from serial startup investor Igor Ryabenkiy via his fund Altair. The fund now holds a 35% stake in the startup, the news agency RIA Novosti reported. The iOS and Android app, which is scheduled for launch in Moscow later …
Geolocated job search app launches in Moscow with $300,000 angel support Read More
Last week Oktogo.ru announced the acquisition of information portal Travel.ru for a price of “up to $2 million including stock incentives,” according to a company statement. Founded in 1998, Travel.ru is one of the oldest resources in the Russian-language online travel segment. It reaches approximately 1.7 million users each month with up to 5 million page …
Online hotel booking service Oktogo.ru acquires information portal Travel.ru Read More
Russian venture fund Prostor Capital has just invested $500,000 in Penxy, a Moscow-based startup that allows presenters to create “narrated slide shows.” The Penxy iOS app, which was released this past June, allows for one-tap streaming and recording of live presentations. The free app is easier to use than SlideShare, as presenters do not have …
US-style Russian startup raises $500,000 to compete with SlideShare Read More
Ruslan Gattarov, a Russian senator who has recently become an advocate for the privacy of Russian Internet users, continues his crusade against what he perceives as the unlawful actions of the world’s largest Internet companies in Russia. In late August, he asked the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation and Roskomnadzor, the key federal …
Google and Facebook taken to task, Twitter suspected of user data misuse Read More
Last Friday, the First Deputy Director of the Presidential Administration, Vyacheslav Volodin, met with representatives of Russian media and Internet companies. Among the participants were top managers of leading Internet and media companies operating in Russia, including Arkady Volozh, the CEO of search engine giant Yandex, Maëlle Gavet, CEO of major e-commerce site Ozon.ru, and …
Kremlin meets with Internet industry leaders to discuss self-regulation Read More
Mail.ru Group’s first ever commercial offerings for international consumption – Jungle Heat and Poker Arena, where chips are bought with real money – are now available at Google Play and App Store. The announcement has been met with a mixed response. The app does not allow users to convert chips already paid for back into …
Mail.ru Group makes gambling available for the whole world Read More
The Russian venture fund Life.SREDA revealed last week a $2 million investment in Moven, a three-year-old New York-based banking startup. Moven’s CEO and founder Brett King hopes that the deal, which took place in July, will help his company further upgrade what he calls a “world-class mobile solution to the problem of the next-generation bank account.” In an …
Russia’s Life.SREDA invests in US startup to build “world’s first cardless bank” Read More
Digital Fortress, a US-based software developer with Russian roots, rolled out in mid-August its inaugural mobile app, an English-language instant messenger named Telegram. The app is now available on iTunes. Digital Fortress owner Pavel Durov, who is also the founder of Russia’s largest social network Vkontakte (VK.com), claimed that his company’s first product was launched …
VKontakte founder launches Telegram, a new instant messenger service Read More
On August 20, U.S. online retailer Amazon applied to register the trademark “Amazon Instant Video” with the Russian patent office. The Amazon Instant Video service allows users to buy movies and TV shows for viewing on computers, tablets, and other devices. So far, the service has been available to users in the U.S., Canada, and …
Amazon preparing to launch online video service in Russia Read More
The new Russian legislation intended to stop online piracy came into effect on August 1. A long-awaited victory for copyright holders, the law facilitates the prosecution of website owners violating intellectual property rights and enables courts to issue warrants to block websites that violate copyright laws if illegal content is not removed within 24 hours. The legislation …
Russia’s anti-piracy law comes into effect; key players and analysts divided on its impact Read More
A minority stake in Banki.ru, one of the largest B2C banking portals on the Russian-language Internet, has changed hands. Finam Global, a Moscow-based investment fund, sold it earlier this month to Russia Partners Technologies, a high tech focused fund run by Russia Partners. Philipp Ilyin-Adaev, the founder and CEO of Banki.ru, hopes that the involvement …
Russian-US PE fund Russia Partners acquires minority stake in Banki.ru Read More
A few months after the merger of Avito,ru, Olx.ru, and Slando.ru, which have formed Russia’s leading online classifieds company, market consolidation continues with Media3’s acquisition of Cian.ru. A major Russian media publishing, commercial printing, and distribution group, Media3 plans to merge Cian.ru and Dmir.ru, a sizable classifieds group with seven thematic platforms – including real …
Media3 acquires realty classifieds site Cian.ru with leadership ambitions Read More
