During three days, from Friday 11 to Sunday 13 September, voters from 83 Russian regions are being called to elect members of local parliaments and, in certain cases, regional governors as well as federal-level deputies. More than 9,000 local campaigns took place in what observers see as a key test for the country’s pro-Putin ruling …
Mail.ru Group and Sberbank are increasing their stake in food delivery service Local Kitchen (‘Kukhnya na rayone’) through their joint venture O2O. After the acquisition of a 30% share in May for nearly $3.9 million, O2O is to own 84.7% of the company after deal completion scheduled for Q4 2020. Some of Local Kitchen’ services are …
Mail.ru Group and Sberbank invest again in food delivery Read More
Yandex, the Russian Internet giant, is developing an international education platform to train data analysts, data scientists, web developers and other IT specialists. Dubbed ‘Practicum,’ the platform is touted as a “practice-oriented, job-landing bootcamp,” starting with a free 20-hour intro course. After initial roll out in Russia last year, Practicum was made available in English, targeting the US market, …
Yandex offers Russian and US students “a starter pack to break into tech” Read More
While the USA and Western Europe are the most usual playing ground for VC funds with Russian connections, there are some exceptions. Digital Horizon, an investment company with offices in London, Moscow and Tel Aviv, announced an investment in Healthlane, an African startup providing healthcare services in Nigeria and Cameroon. Healthlane’s approach combines remote and face-to-face health …
Digital Horizon invests in African healthcare startup Read More
Last week Mail.ru Group, the LSE-listed Russian Internet major, and Sberbank, the state-controlled financial and technology giant, announced a capital injection of 12 billion rubles (approximately $160 million) to develop their ‘O2O’ joint venture. Agreed in June last year, this JV combines the businesses of the two groups across a variety of fields, from ride-hailing …
Mail.Ru and Sberbank inject $160 million in their foodtech and mobility JV Read More
Last week, Yandex evacuated a part of its Belarusian employees to Russia following a police raid on its Minsk office amid the unrest in the city. According to the Russian search giant, the Belarusian police were seeking to seize user data. Thus, on August 13, unidentified armed people came to Yandex’s office, presenting themselves as …
Yandex offices raided by police in Minsk, employees evacuated to Moscow Read More
Can you study in a top US, Chinese or European university when you have no money and lack family support? The answer is yes, as demonstrated by StudyFree, an online service that helps applicants increase their chances to get a scholarship and be admitted to educational institutions. Now claiming 23,000 users across the world, StudyFree …
Russian-born startup helps students make their international education dreams come true Read More
A Russian medical insurance startup called BestDoctor has raised $4.5 million from major Russian investors. These include AddVenture, a pioneer in the Russian venture business, Target Global, a fund with Russian roots operating from Berlin, and LVL1, the investment company of Russian-Israeli Lev Leviev. This is BestDoctor’s third round of equity funding since inception in …
Flashpoint VC — an international investor previously known as Buran VC — has launched an international startup challenge dedicated to SaaS technologies. The challenge is open to Seed and post-seed companies with an MRR of $10,000-$100,000 and no more than $3 million raised. The targeted segments are AI, DevOps, Remote work & productivity tools, HealthTech and …
Earlier this month Mail.ru Group, the LSE-listed Russian Internet giant, announced an investment in data science education startup SkillFactory. The amount fo the transaction was not disclosed, but the group stated it will “receive a 18.31% share in the service with the option to add on more shares.” SkillFactory’s offers include: An online Big Data …
Online recruitment platform HeadHunter has sealed its position as a $1 billion tech company after a new multimillion dollar share deal confirmed the company’s soaring valuation. The new deal will see U.S. investment giant Goldman Sachs sell a 9.9% stake for $101 million, thus valuing Headhunter at just over $1 billion — a rise in the firm’s …
Russian recruitment platform HeadHunter cements $1 billion valuation Read More
It is only one month since Russia unexpectedly lifted its ban on messaging service Telegram. But the company’s vice president this week appeared alongside Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin — and proposed a crusade against US tech giants Apple and Google. Mishustin took part in a panel discussion with IT industry executives near the city …
Telegram and Russia seek rapprochement amid attack on Apple Read More
