Earlier this month Vladimir Malugin, PayPal’s regional director for Russia, announced the addition of the ruble as an official PayPal currency. Starting from mid-September Russian users of PayPal will thus be able to pay for purchases in stores, accept payments, transfer money to other users’ accounts, and withdraw money from bank accounts in the Russian national currency. …
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 Federal Customs Service (FCS) of Russia may add between 300 and 500 new employees before the end of the year to help deal with the growing number of parcels sent to Russia from abroad. The Ministry of Communications, also charged with reforming the inefficient Russian Post, requested this staff expansion for the Customs service …
Moscow-based online flight ticket retailer Onetwotrip.com, one of the fastest growing startups on the Russian scene, has fully acquired DealAngel, a startup that has developed an advanced hotel booking technology. The news, revealed earlier this week by the Russian business daily Vedmosti, was confirmed to East-West Digital News by Onetwotrip’s founder and CEO Peter Kutis.
In late July, Bay.ru (Bayru), a leading cross border sales operator facilitating Russian consumers’ purchases from eBay, Amazon, and other international e-commerce sites, announced that it had raised $4 million to strengthen its marketing and fulfillment capacities. The funds were brought in by existing and new investors from the US, Europe, and Asia. Neither the …
Cross-border sales operator Bay.ru secures $4 million Read More
The BIT Contest, Russia’s largest tech competition for innovation startup projects, announced the winners of its Global Track program on Monday. This year marks the 10th edition of this competition, which originally drew inspiration from the U.S.’ MIT $100K and Mass Challenge. The Global Track, co-sponsored by Intel and RVC, the state-owned fund of funds dedicated …
BIT Contest announces Global Track nomination winners Read More
Two independent players, eTargeting and Kavanga, have almost simultaneously introduced hyperlocal ad targeting – a technology that provides user location data accurate to less than one kilometer – on the Russian market. While eTargeting employs its own hyperlocal targeting service, Kavanga has partnered with Digital Element to adopt its patented technology called NetAcuity Edge.
How difficult is Russia as an investment destination for an international investor? Acclimation, at least, is not a problem, according to Intel Capital’s President Arvind Sodhani who celebrated the fund’s ten years of activity in Russia earlier this month. “I imagine Moscow as a city covered by 10 feet of snow, but every time I …
Three leading e-commerce companies – KupiVip, Ozon, and the Otto Group – have started sharing the fulfillment and other service capacities that they had initially built for themselves. Coming in addition to those of such players as Arvato and Beta Production (fulfilment and warehousing), as well as B2C-PL, CDEK, DHL Global Mail, DPD, and SPSR (delivery), these offers contribute to improving fulfillment conditions in this huge …
This Monday, St. Petersburg-based Live Office announced the completion of its initial public offering on the Moscow Stock Exchange. The 4 million shares, or 33% of the company’s equity, were offered at 129 rubles (approximately $4) per share, valuing the company at about $47.4 million. Established in 1996, the company claims to serve 7,000 corporate …
Office supplies retailer Live Office migrates online and goes public Read More
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
In a bid to enhance cross-border sales operations from the U.S. to Russia, mail forwarder Bay.ru (Bayru) has launched its own fulfilment service, which it expects to serve half of its delivery operations by the end of the year. Christened Dostami Express, the new service has required as much as $700,000 in investment since the …
Cross-border sales operator Bay.ru launches in-house fulfilment service Read More
