Finance

Leta Capital eyes “17,000 Russian-speaking tech entrepreneurs” based in the West

June 30, 2021

The Russian VC firm Leta Capital aims to invest in Russian-speaking tech entrepreneurs across the world. This is a huge pool of talents who left their home countries — including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and some other former Soviet republics — to establish themselves in Western Europe, the USA and other geographies.  According to Leta Capital’s in-house research, “more …

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Russian entrepreneurs raise $46 million to launch express delivery service in the US

June 30, 2021

A group of Russian entrepreneurs has raised $46 million to launch a food delivery company on the US market. Dubbed ‘Buyk,’ the service is an analog of Samokat, a successful startup which was born in St. Petersburg and acquired last year by Mail.ru Group and Sber. Buyk is the brainchild of Samokat co-founders Vyacheslav Bocharov …

Russian entrepreneurs raise $46 million to launch express delivery service in the US Read More

Sber acquires CRM startup Jivo for reportedly more than $20 million

June 22, 2021

Earlier this month Sber, the state-controlled financial and technology giant (previously known as Sberbank), announced the full acquisition of Jivo. This Russian startup — which has legal entities both in Russia and in Delaware — has developed an omnichannel application for customer support and online sales. Jivo’s solution combines a chat function for websites with …

Sber acquires CRM startup Jivo for reportedly more than $20 million Read More

Moscow-based TalkBank raises $3 million to develop “bank in messengers”

June 18, 2021

A Russian neobank called TalkBank has neither physical branches, nor call centers, nor even a mobile app. Its principle consists in offering “a bank in messengers,” i.e. Telegram, Facebook, WhatsApp or Viber. “Digital financial assistance” is provided by a smart bot that “understands banking commands in natural language.”  Thus customers will be able to better plan their budget and …

Moscow-based TalkBank raises $3 million to develop “bank in messengers” Read More

VTB Capital invests $75 million in Russian carsharing major Delimobil

August 30, 2021

VTB-Capital, a division of the state bank VTB, is in the process of acquiring a 15% stake in the Delimobil car-sharing service. A memorandum of cooperation was signed at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum in early June by Yuri Soloviev, First Deputy President and Chairman of VTB Bank Management Board, and Vincenzo Trani, founder …

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Otto Group’s myToys shuts downs in Russia after 10 years of activity

June 28, 2021

myToys, an online retailer of children’s goods owned by Otto Group, ceased its activity earlier this month in Russia after more than 10 years of operations on the market.  In recent years, myToys.ru was among Russia’s leading e-commerce sites in its category.  However, according to official data cited by Retailer.ru, the site’s net loss jumped from 34.8 million rubles in 2019 (around …

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BestDoctor.ru attracts $26 million from major Russian, Austrian and Swedish investors

June 17, 2021

In late May Russian insuretech leader BestDoctor closed a $26 million round with an impressive investor consortium. The money was brought in by Winter Capital, a Moscow-based international fund backed, in particular, by billionaire Vladimir Potanin; UNIQA Ventures, which is affiliated to a major Austrian insurance group owned by Raiffeisenbank; and VNV Global, a major …

BestDoctor.ru attracts $26 million from major Russian, Austrian and Swedish investors Read More

High tech reverberations from the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum

June 19, 2021

A notable part of this year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) was dedicated to IT and digital transformation as well as the state’s role in these fields (see the forum’s topical sessions and its special Innovation Space). This major event took place on June 3-4, gathering much of the country’s political and business elite and some foreign …

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Russian-born social commerce major Ecwid sold to Canadian Lightspeed for $500 million

June 9, 2021

After Veeam Software, Wrike and Magic Lab — to cite just a few recent examples — this is yet another happy exit for a Russian entrepreneur established in the West. Ecwid, a Russian-rooted provider of social commerce solutions for small businesses, is in the process of being acquired by Canadian Lightspeed. This Toronto-listed online and offline retail software major says it is buying …

Russian-born social commerce major Ecwid sold to Canadian Lightspeed for $500 million Read More

Russian service marketplace Eruditor secures $22 million venture loan to go global

June 9, 2021

Last week two large financial institutions announced a 1.6 billion ruble ($22 million) investment in Eruditor, a group of online platforms for small businesses and freelancers providing home and local services.   The funding is provided jointly by the Russian-Chinese Investment Fund, a vehicle created by Russia’s sovereign wealth fund RDIF and the Chinese Investment Corporation, and …

Russian service marketplace Eruditor secures $22 million venture loan to go global Read More

After pandemic boosted gaming usage, Mail.Ru acquires cloud gaming startup

June 4, 2021

Mail.ru Group is in the process of acquiring game streaming startup Playkey. Through this acquisition, the LSE-listed Russian Internet major intends to “develop Playkey solutions within [its cloud gaming service] My.Games Cloud and scale cloud gaming in Russia.” Last week the group announced the acquisition of a controlling stake in the company — 80.05% according to the Russian company …

After pandemic boosted gaming usage, Mail.Ru acquires cloud gaming startup Read More

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