Two acquisitions were announced yesterday in the Russian fintech space. Yandex, the NASDAQ-listed digital major, agreed to fully purchase Acropol Bank. The deal, which is still subject to regulatory approval, amounts to 1.1 billion rubles (approximately $14.7 million). “The strategic rationale for the transaction is to obtain a banking license required to develop the Yandex fintech vertical and launch comprehensive …
GrainRus, a Russian importer and producer of raw materials for the brewing and dairy industry, has become a limited partner (LP) of a Hong Kong and US-based foodtech fund. Lever VC was launched in 2018 to invest in the alternative protein space. Its team includes early investors in Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, Memphis Meats and other …
Russian agroindustrial major GrainRus invests in international foodtech fund Read More
Crunchbase and East-West Digital News are teaming up to cover key tech and venture trends from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The last column by EWDN Chief Editor Adrien Henni highlights the most notable industry facts and trends in the first quarter of 2021. Almost no major local deals took place in this period, but Eastern …
Tip automation startups are much-desired in Russia right now, if judging by an acquisition announced by Yandex, just weeks after another one from Alfa-Bank. The NASDAQ-listed search giant is now the owner of Chaevye Prosto (‘Just Tips’) — a startup founded in 2018 by Evgeny Zagoruyko and his wife, who spent much of the family’s savings to develop the service. The terms of the …
Yandex acquires tip automation startup to offer full-cycle foodtech services Read More
2GIS, a leading mapping service owned by Sber, is in the process of acquiring RocketData, a successful geomarketing startup from Belarus. Founded in 2017, RocketData provides an “easy-to-use platform to manage your company’s business information and user reviews among more than 30 location-based services” — from maps, search engines and directories, to GPS devices, to social networks. RocketData …
Russian mapping major 2GIS acquires Belarusian geo-marketing startup Read More
Russian-speaking tech entrepreneurs and investors are more than ever active abroad — which has been illustrated again in the UK by a grocery delivery and dark store startup called Jiffy. Founded in November 2020, this company aims to deliver fresh products, meals and household essentials “in just 15 minutes” in several districts of the British capital. With products sourced from local …
Segezha Group, a major Russian producer of fiber-based packaging and forestry products, is a global leader in sack paper (#2), paper sacks (#2) and birch plywood (#5). Unlike most of its industry peers, the group is fully vertically integrated and controls its own forests. Operating across several countries, it holds long-term (typically 49 years) leases …
An e-scooter startup called Urent has raised 1.2 billion rubles (nearly $16 million at the current exchange rate) in equity funding and loans. The investor pool includes Citimobil, a Russian ride-sharing company, Sber, the state-controlled digital and finance giant, and Sistema SmartTech, a new venture vehicle of the Sistema conglomerate. The latter contributed 200 million rubles …
Russian e-scooter startup raises $16 million to become regional leader Read More
Yesterday Sber, the state-controlled financial and digital giant, announced a binding agreement to fully acquire Muzlab, a leader in the Russian B2B audio streaming market. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed, but industry publication VC.RU heard it was between 500 million rubles ($6.5 million) and 1 billion rubles ($13 million at the current exchange rate). Muzlab has developed a …
A new fund is emerging on the tiny Russian venture scene. With $50 million in capital, ‘The Games Fund’ is the brainchild of Maria Kochmola and Ilya Eremeev, two former executives from My Games Venture Capital (MGVC), Forbes Russia reports. Former Riot Games CTO Sergey Titov, alongside ex-top managers from GEM Capital, are also part of the …
New $50 million fund to invest in gaming across Eastern Europe Read More
Ozon, a NASDAQ-listed Russian e-commerce major, announced today an agreement with Sovcombank to acquire Oney Bank. This cash transaction is still subject to regulatory approval; its exact amount , which should “not exceed $10 million,” will be determined at closing, Through this deal, Ozon is acquiring the licenses required to develop its offering of financial services around its marketplace. …
Ozon to acquire Oney Bank to enhance financial service offerings Read More
Sber (previously know as Sberbank) is demonstrating once again its ambitions in the field of e-commerce with the acquisition of SaaS provider InSales, which was announced yesterday. The state-controlled financial and digital giant has agreed to acquire an 80% stake in InSales for an undisclosed amount. The rest of the shares will remain in the hands …
Sber acquires InSales to help Russian SMEs sell online Read More
