Digital services & Apps

Blablacar reported to have raised €21.3 million from Baring Vostok

November 12, 2020

French unicorn Blablacar is said to have raised €21.3 million euros from Baring Vostok, a leading Russian private equity firm. The news was reported this morning by Maddyness, an authoritative French tech blog. When contacted by East-West Digital News, Baring Vostok and Blablacar declined to comment on this information, but Maddyness told us that they had access to official …

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MAPS.ME launches bicycle navigation

September 4, 2016

MAPS.ME, the mapping tool of Mail.ru Group’s subsidiary My.com, has launched bicycle navigation. In addition to indicating hiking and car routes, MAPS.ME takes the terrain into account and determines the most convenient way for a cyclist. Additionally, MAPS.ME’s car navigation system has been updated with a new layout ands speed data complementing the usual time and route distances. The new version …

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ICQ integrates neural network-based technology

September 2, 2016

Last week Mail.ru Group, a major, LSE-listed Russian Internet group, announced that the new version of ICQ for Android now allows processing images using a neural network-inspired technology. “ICQ is the first messenger to seamlessly integrate neural networks,” the group stated. With this update, ICQ users can transform a photo into a painting in just one tap. The …

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Mail.ru Group and Yandex invest in IT education

August 30, 2016

Mail.Ru Group, a major Russian Internet company, has announced an investment in GeekBrains, a Russian-language online learning platform for developers. The LSE-listed group has acquired a controlling interest in GeekBrains, with the founders keeping a stake and still running the platform. GeekBrains claims more than 1 million participants (up from from 200,000 one year ago) with a monthly …

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Russian programmers launch neural network-based food discovery app in US cities

October 3, 2016

After Prisma, the much-hyped mobile app that instantly transforms pictures into artwork, and Artisto, a similar app for videos, Russian programmers are affirming their particular talent in developing technologies inspired by neural networks. This time, this approach is being applied to food recommendations with ‘Borsch,’ a new mobile service launched over the past weeks in …

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American Councils invites Russian startups to international edtech accelerator (deadline: Sept. 16)

August 26, 2016

Washington, D.C. – American Councils for International Education is pleased to announce the opening of our application for global education technology startups interested in exploring collaborations and accessing U.S. innovation networks. American Councils welcomes applications from Russia and neighboring countries. Our organization has a history of implementing successful programs with participating startups from these countries in the …

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Yandex.Taxi launches in Georgia — before Ukraine, Estonia and Latvia

March 2, 2017

Yesterday Yandex.Taxi, the taxi booking service of Russian search giant Yandex, announced its launch in the Georgian capital Tbilissi. The service, which involves 200 cars from 11 taxi parks, is available in Georgian, Russian and English languages. Launched in 2011, Yandex.Taxi already operates in 30 cities of Russia as well as in Minsk (Belarus), Almaty (Kazakhstan) …

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Russian companies fight for secure government messenger contract

October 18, 2016

Earlier this year, the Kremlin tasked the Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF, or FRII in Russian) to develop develop a new secure messaging service for government. Concerned that foreign governments could access secret Russian information shared via Western apps such as WhatsApp and Viber, officials expressed concerns that Russia’s security agencies were unable to crack encryption  if …

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SEC suspends ‘tech miracle’ from Siberia after stock value soared to $35 billion

November 18, 2024

Yesterday the Securities and Exchange Commission suspended trading in the securities of Neuromama (NERO), a tiny Internet company with Russian roots, “because of concerns regarding the accuracy and adequacy of information in the marketplace.” Based on the latest transactions on over-the-counter markets in the USA, the company’s capitalization exceeds $35 billion — more than Tesla or Gazprom. Neuromama’s stock …

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Google fined $6.7 million by Russian anti-monopoly authorities

August 12, 2016

Russia’s Federal Anti-monopoly Service (FAS) has fined Google 438 million rubles (approximately $6.7 million at the current exchange rate) for abusing its dominant position in the Russian market. This fine accounts for some 2.5% of the turnover of Google’s Russian subsidiary, noted the Russian business daily Kommersant. Google was found guilty of violating anti-monopoly laws by forcing phone …

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Hackers break into Telegram, revealing 15 million users’ phone numbers

August 3, 2016

Iranian hackers have compromised more than a dozen accounts on the Telegram instant messaging service and identified the phone numbers of 15 million Iranian users, the largest known breach of the encrypted communications system, cyber researchers told Reuters. The attacks, which took place this year and have not been previously reported, jeopardized the communications of …

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Crimea maps scandals: Google offends Russia, then Ukraine

August 4, 2016

A controversy sparked last week over Google’s decision to change the names of Crimean settlements appearing on Google Maps, in accordance with the Ukrainian authorities’ “decommunization” campaign. In May 2016, the Ukrainian parliament renamed 70 settlements in Crimea, mostly choosing names of Crimean Tatar origin. Thus Krasnogvardeyskoe (‘Red Guard’) became “Yany Kapu” while Sovetskoe switched …

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