Businesses face hefty penalties for operating on the Crimean peninsula, following its annexation by Russia in 2014 — a move deemed illegal by much of the international community and which resulted in the U.S., EU and other western countries placing stringent sanctions on Russia and barring firms from being active or investing on the peninsula. …
Major changes took place in late June on the Russian e-commerce and e-payment scenes. Yandex, the Russian Internet major, and Sberbank, the state-controlled financial and technology giant, announced an agreement “to reorganize their two joint ventures” – Yandex.Market and Yandex.Money. In plain language, this is a divorce. Yandex is to own entirely the e-commerce platform …
While divorcing with Sberbank, Yandex raises $1 billion to finance e-commerce projects Read More
Sberbank, the state-controlled financial and digital giant, is in talks to buy a large stake in e-commerce major Ozon, Reuters reported yesterday, citing “four sources close to the matter.” A banker told the news agency that “an agreement was nearly ready.” The bank would acquire around 30% of the company after the issuance of additional shares. …
Reuters: Sberbank prepares to buy large stake in Ozon Read More
Sberbank, the state-controlled finance and technology behemoth, Azbuka Vkusa, a leading grocery retail outlet network, and Visa have teamed up to launch “Russia’s first store fitted with computer vision solutions.” Located in the Moscow City business center, the ‘Take&Go’ store features an “intellectual surveillance system” which “constantly tracks the products on shelves.” When entering the store, customers …
Ecwid, a leading provider of social commerce solutions for small businesses, has just secured $42 million from Morgan Stanley and PeakSpan Capital. Using 54 languages to serve 1.5 million businesses across the world, Ecwid has made a long way since it was born in Ulyanovsk, 720 km east from Moscow, 10 years ago. Now headquartered …
Russian-born social commerce major raises $42 million in Silicon Valley Read More
Mail.ru Group and Sberbank have invested in food delivery service Localkitchen.ru (“Kukhnya na rayone”) through their joint venture O2O. Citing Russia’s company register, business Vedomosti reported yesterday that O2O committed a loan of up to 290 million rubles (nearly $3.9 million at the current exchange rate) convertible into a 30% share. The news came just …
Mail.ru Group and Sberbank assert themselves on food delivery market Read More
Last week X5 Retail Group, a leading Russian food retailer listed on the Moscow and London stock exchanges, announced that its online sales – through Perekrestok.ru and Delivery.Pyaterochka – amounted to 1.7 billion rubles (incl. VAT, approximately $22.6 million) in April. This is a 4.7-time increase in value from the same month of last year. …
In April, X5 Retail’s online sales increased 4.7 times year-on-year Read More
Earlier this month eBay announced it is putting 100 million rubles ($1.37 million at the current exchange rate) in a new program to support Russian online retailers in their effort to develop sales abroad. Dubbed ‘Open To All The World,’ the program targets specifically entrepreneurs who register on eBay for the first time and make available …
eBay teams up with Russian authorities to help Russian e-merchants sell globally Read More
The Retail Innovation Tech Alliance (RITA), an international startup scouting initiative launched by major Russian retailers, has just launched its first call for startups. RITA is seeking innovative solutions in a variety of fields, including e-commerce, transport and logistics, quality of goods, point-of-sale operations, back office automation, CRM, marketing, home mobile entertainment, automated interior design …
Top Russian retailers call startups from across the world to share their innovations Read More
Last week Sberbank, the Russian financial and tech behemoth, announced it created a disinfection robot “in the shortest time.” It is intended for use in any public place – from hospitals, to schools, to offices, to public transport. This robot – which is an adapted version of a delivery robot – can disinfect a room of 20 sq. …
Russian retailers have been rocked for the past six weeks as epidemic fears were mounting among the population. Even before the shutdown of many offline outlets – which was ordered in Moscow city on March 31 – online demand surged across a host of products. Conservation-type food products became in strong demand in late February, with market leader Utkonos reporting a 60% sales spike in comparison with the same …
How COVID-19 is shaking Russia’s online and offline retail Read More
Russian e-commerce major Ozon has just announced a $150 million round of financing, consolidating its position among the most well-funded local market players. The money is coming from three investors bringing equal contributions: the Moscow-based private equity firm Baring Vostok Capital Partners, the corporate fund Sistema_VC and a new investor, the US VC firm Princeville Capital. The deal took the form of a …
Russian e-commerce major Ozon secures $150 million from local and US investors Read More
