Digital services & Apps

BlaBlaCar stops offering its services in Crimea to avoid EU sanctions

November 12, 2020

BlaBlaCar, the carpooling giant born in France, has stopped offering its services in Crimea, where it had been operating since 2014. The decision aims to avoid being targeted by the EU sanctions against firms operating on the peninsula, according to company representatives cited by local news website Crimea.Info. Since Russia took control of Crimea, a Ukrainian …

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Eastern European edtech startup backed by Russian and South Korean investors to go global

February 19, 2020

In late January the Russian-born edtech startup Novakid closed a $1.5 million funding round involving South Korean VC BonAngels and Russian VC firm Leta Capital. The money will be used to develop Novakid’s technology further and to support its international expansion plans.  Founded in 2017 by Max Azarov, Novakid touts itself as “a next-generation early English learning …

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Taxi-hailing and foodtech on the rise: Yandex announces growing and more diversified revenues in 2019

November 12, 2020

Last week Yandex, the NASDAQ-listed Russian Internet giant, announced its unaudited financial results for Q4 and FY 2019. Consolidated yearly revenues grew 37% from 2018, reaching 175.4 billion rubles ($2.83 billion). Yandex’s adjusted net income increased by a more modest 6% to 23.5 billion rubles ($380.3 million). These results are below what analysts had pencilled in, …

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The world’s leading investors call for health and wellness innovators (Paris, March 23)

February 21, 2020

On March 23, the French capital is to host the world’s leading investors searching for early-stage innovation in health and wellness. Startups from Eastern Europe are welcome to this fast-track cross-border match-making event, which covers such industry segment as digital health, precision medicine, ageing in place, pharma, medical devices and IoT. To date, 40+ investors …

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Illegal copies on Telegram account for more than half of Russia’s book market, claims industry association

February 9, 2020

Some 200 Telegram channels distribute illegal copies of books, accounting for a total audience is 2 million people. This estimate was provided by according to Maxim Ryabyko, Head of the Russian Association of Internet Rights Protection (AZAPI), in an exchange with business daily Vedomosti. Pavel Durov’s instant messenger is now one of the largest sources …

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Three Russian online delivery startups shut down amid strong market growth

November 12, 2020

Over the past few weeks three online delivery startups ceased activities, having failed to turn a profit or demonstrate viable business models. The e-grocery delivery service Golama made the news last year as it completed a $2.3 million round of funding, then agreed with VEB Ventures an additional $7 million capital injection.   In mid-January 2020, however, …

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Sovereign fund RDIF to back car sales platform, food delivery service and online travel agency

November 12, 2020

On Wednesday, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) announced its intention to invest in three big Russian startups. The sovereign wealth fund is teaming up with Baring Vostok, a leading Russian private equity firm, and unnamed funds from the Middle East, to invest in CarPrice. Founded in …

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Avito acquires controlling stake in used car software publisher

January 15, 2020

Avito, the Russian online classifieds giant – which Naspers acquired in 2015-2019 for nearly $3 billion – has purchased a controlling stake (51%) in Russian software publisher MaxPoster.  Operating from its Moscow and St. Petersburg offices, this company provides software solutions to estimate the value of used cars, manage classifieds to sell the cars, and …

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FT: Yandex to launch car-sharing in Europe

November 12, 2020

Yandex, the Russian NASDAQ-listed Internet giant, is planning to launch its car-sharing service in Europe, the Financial Times has reported. The head of Yandex.Drive, the company’s car-sharing division, Anton Ryazanov, told the paper it would roll-out the service with a 1,000-strong fleet of electric cars later this year.  Yandex has not yet decided which city it …

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Mail.Ru and Yandex bet on online platforms to massively train IT specialists

December 24, 2019

Mail.Ru Group now owns 60.3% of Skillbox, an e-learning platform for digital and IT specialties, Vedomosti reported yesterday, citing the official company register and exchanges with company representatives. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed. In February, the LSE-listed Russian Internet giant had acquired a 3.6% stake for an undisclosed amount as part of …

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Yandex introduces Vega, its latest intelligent search update

January 15, 2020

Since we started our search engine in 1997, we’ve sought to connect people with the information most relevant to them.  Over the years, we’ve updated Yandex Search with smart features and more informative results, making it as easy as possible for our users to navigate the mass of information that is the internet.  Today, we’re …

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Russian designer invests in US startup to reinvent online travel booking

December 11, 2019

Last month EightyDays, a US startup born in Belarus, secured an undisclosed amount in a seed round of funding from Artem Lebedev. The famous Russian designer saw in this startup’s technology “an incredible, fantastic, extraordinary new way of making travel bookings online” (see video). EightyDays has created a multi-destination booking service intended for international travellers planning a …

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