Kima Ventures, the fund started by prominent French tech entrepreneurs Jérémie Berrebi and Xavier Niel, along with angel investors Fabrice Grinda, Jose Marin, and Alexander Aivazov, have teamed up to invest in Martmania, an online marketplace focused on trading “interesting and unusual things.” The details of the deal have not been disclosed, but a source …
Russian payment operator Qiwi filed a registration statement with the U.S. regulator, the SEC (Securities & Exchange Commission) on Wednesday, to raise up to $100 million from an initial public offering. J.P. Morgan and Credit Suisse will act as joint book-running managers in the operation, which could take place before next summer. The number of American …
From Cyprus to New York: Qiwi starts its journey to IPO Read More
Two major Russian Internet groups – Rambler-Afisha and SUP Media – have announced plans to merge, creating an entity that will have a combined audience of 35 million users. The financial terms of the merger have not been disclosed. The two firms claim they will have the third-largest Internet audience in Russia after the merger – behind Yandex and Mail.ru Group – with …
Rambler-Afisha merges with SUP Media; new group to reach 35 million users monthly Read More
In what could be the beginning of an international imbroglio, the Swedish telecom group Tele2 AB announced Wednesday that VTB Group, a leading state-owned Russian bank, would acquire its subsidiary Tele2 Russia, for $3.55 billion in cash and debt. With 2G licenses to operate in 43 regions, Tele2 Russia stands as the country’s 4th largest …
RVC USA, the Boston-based representative office of the Russian state-owned fund of funds RVC, is considering raising a new venture fund to back US startups with connections to Russia and help Russian startups enter the US market. While the Russian government might bring in $20 million of that amount – which remains to be confirmed – …
RVC USA teams up with US VCs to support Russian and US startups Read More
The OZON Group, comprised of OZON.ru, O-Courier, OZON.travel, Sapato.ru and eSolutions, has today announced its financial results for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2012. The company reached $492 million GMV [1] and $250 million net sales, growing by 67% and 55% respectively from the previous year. The announcement highlights the significant growth in revenue of …
OZON Group reached $492 million GMV and $250 million net sales in 2012 Read More
In its pursuit of leadership in the Russian online travel market, online hotel booking service Ostrovok.ru has raised $25 million – its fourth fundraising operation in less than two years. General Catalyst Partners has led the round, with participation from Accel Partners and Russia’s Frontier Ventures as well as from Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, ex-Expedia …
Online hotel booking service Ostrovok.ru raises $25 million amid fierce competition Read More
Blabroom, a resident company of the St. Petersburg-based technopark and incubator Ingria, has completed a seed stage round from Imperious Group, which has injected 6 million rubles (approximately $200,000) into the startup in exchange for a 20% stake. Blabroom’s site has been designed to help shy people establish their first contacts with other members of …
St. Petersburg startup secures $200,000 to turn shy people into online daters Read More
The ownership of three major Russian tech companies – the search giant Yandex, the state-owned nanotechnology corporation Rusnano, and the mobile operator Megafon – is being affected by significant changes. Yandex, which raised $1.3 billion in its IPO back in May 2011, announced yesterday the closing of a secondary public offering of Class A ordinary …
Stocks of Yandex, MegaFon and Rusnano are changing hands Read More
Runa Capital, a Moscow-based, $135 million tech fund operating internationally, has led a $2 million investment round in BackupAgent, with existing investor Solid Ventures also participating in the round. The company has yielded a minority stake in the transaction which was announced this morning. A major provider of cloud backup solutions, BackupAgent is headquartered in …
Russia’s Runa Capital leads investment round in Dutch cloud backup provider Read More
In a new illustration of the vibrant activity of the Moscow venture scene, Maxim Shekhovtsov and Alexander Zhurba – founders of TexDrive, one of the city’s largest startup accelerators – announced last week the creation of a fund dedicated primarily to IT projects in Russia and around the world. Christened Genezis Capital, the fund actually …
New Russian high tech fund to invest up to $20 million in startups across the globe Read More
Oktogo.ru, a leading Russian online hotel booking company, has attracted $11 million in its fourth round of financing since its inception in 2010. The funds have been brought in by Russian entrepreneur Victor Sazhin in addition to some of the startup’s existing investors. These include Luxembourg’s Mangrove Capital Partners, France’s Ventech, and VTB Capital, the …
