Inspired by the success of such apps as Gettaxi and Uber, two Moscow entrepreneurs have just launched GetNowBeauty, a mobile app that allows you to call to your home or office a hairdresser, facial aesthetic, hair removal or nail manicure specialist. To develop the service, former bank legal adviser and singer Anna Korona — whose real name …
Illustrating once again the invest-abroad trend among Russian tech investors, Altair Capital, the fund of Russian serial business angel Igor Ryabenkiy, has invested in New York-based Rukkus. Launched in 2013, this startup offers “the easiest way on mobile to find and buy the perfect concert, sports, or theater ticket.” The amount of the transaction has …
Altair Capital invests in New York mobile ticketing startup Rukkus Read More
In line with the global trend, over the next few years the main driver of m-commerce in Russia will be the growing number of tablet and smartphone users. This is the primary thesis of the study “The Russian M-Commerce Market in 2014,” presented by the marketing agency RBC.research and reported by the e-commerce online portal …
Mobile commerce takes off in Russia: Number of shoppers more than doubles in 2014 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, …
UberX, the budget version of US-based taxi-hailing service Uber, has arrived in Moscow. Residents of the Russian capital can now travel in an UberX vehicle for just $0.15 per minute / per km, in addition to an initial $1.20 charge. This is significantly less than the $0.40 per minute charge + $5 initial charge to use …
While Russian retailers are experimenting increasingly with multichannel approaches, Goodwin, a Moscow-based startup that has just secured seed investment, is introducing a pioneering mobile commerce project. Inspired by the Amazon Flow concept, Goodwin lets smartphone owners buy products from “virtual storefronts” – which can be almost anything from an article in a magazine, to a …
In a new illustration of the internationalization of Russia’s venture capital, SBT Venture Capital, the venture arm of the national savings bank Sberbank, has led a $12 million round to fund Sequent Software, a California-based provider of trusted service manager (TSM) and mobile commerce software and services. Sequent’s existing US investors Opus Capital and Jado …
California’s Sequent raises $12 million from Russian and US funds for mobile wallet tech Read More
Earlier this month, Radario.ru, a St. Petersburg-based e-ticketing service for music and entertainment events, closed a $1.2 million investment deal with undisclosed investors in its second round of funding, bringing its total investment since inception to $1.4 million. Daria Semenova, a spokesperson for Radario, explained to East-West Digital News that the startup’s post-investment valuation is …
St. Petersburg startup secures $1.2 million in US-Russian funding to push e-ticketing Read More
Moscow, Russia – i-Free is introducing the first full-featured NFC wallet in Russia and CIS. Embedded in smartphones and the TSM (Trusted Service Manager) platform, the wallet brings all the advantages of NFC technology to Russian and CIS consumers, including the remote issue and secure download of Mobile MasterCard PayPass® cards. Both the NFC wallet and the …
i-Free, Tinkoff Credit Systems Bank and MasterCard launch NFC wallet in Russia and CIS Read More
Landing in a very young, yet already competitive market, the Berlin-headquartered startup SumUp has just announced its launch in Russia. Like its US model, Square, and its Russian competitors, 2can, iPay, Pay-me and SellbyCell, SumUp empowers merchants to accept debit and credit card payments with their mobile devices. Its portable card reader comes with an …
Western mobile payment startup SumUp teams up with Svyaznoy to compete in Russian market Read More
Russian iPhone users can now experiment with social banking – an entirely new concept in the country – with an app launched last month by Instabank, a Moscow-based startup. The iPhone app allows clients to transfer money to Facebook friends who also use Instabank, get notifications of new account activity, and add geotags and photos …
A state-supported venture fund in St. Petersburg (“The St. Petersburg regional venture fund for investment in small businesses in the scientific and technical sphere,” in Russian officialese) has announced an investment of an undisclosed amount in Breeze Technology, a startup developing innovative payment methods for public transportation. Breeze Technology has provided St. Petersburg and Moscow …
St. Petersburg regional fund supports innovative payment solution developer Read More
