Finance

Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman lost $27 million in Uber investment

November 12, 2020

LetterOne (L1), an international investment group controlled by Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman, sold its stake in Uber for $173 million in February last year. The transaction was made public in the group’s 2019 financial report, as reported by RBC. LetteOne had purchased this stake for $200 million in 2016, presenting the deal as “strategic investment.” Fridman …

Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman lost $27 million in Uber investment Read More

Backed by top European investors, Russian agritech startup aims to conquer US and EU markets

June 8, 2020

Elevator Ventures, Raiffeisen Bank International’s corporate fund, and Speedinvest, a major Berlin-based VC fund, are backing Russian agritech startup Agro.Club in a $1.5 million seed funding round. Founded in 2018, Agro.Club defines itself as “a mobile platform connecting growers, their suppliers and crop purchasers into a single network.” It says it is building “an efficient …

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RVC head under house arrest: Russian investment world rocked by yet another criminal case

June 8, 2020

Late last week the head of Russian Venture Company (RVC), Alexander Povalko, was arrested then placed by a Moscow court under house arrest for 45 days. The FSB (Federal Security Service) and police officers ransacked his home.  It is the latest high-profile legal case to have rocked the Russian investment world — and market players have been …

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Reuters: Sberbank prepares to buy large stake in Ozon

June 6, 2020

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. …

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How blockchain platform Factorin is transforming Russia’s trade finance market

August 30, 2020

In only a year Factorin, a young technology company was able to change the trade finance market in Russia. The distributed platform automates the interaction of the customers’, suppliers’ and factors’ accounting systems, and removes all manual work in the preparation, verification, and approval of documents. Factorin reduces the overhead costs of all processes and …

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Russian online video platform ivi.ru secures giant venture loan from Alfa Bank

June 3, 2020

Russian online video major ivi.ru has attracted debt financing for the first time. As reported by business daily Vedomosti,  the company received a six-year venture loan from Alfa Bank, amounting to 3.7 billion rubles (some $54 million at the current exchange rate, a considerable sum by local standards).  In addition to the share collateral, the bank has been granted an …

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Sberbank invests in e-signature service Legium.io

June 3, 2020

Sberbank, the state-controlled finance and technology giant, has invested 10 million rubles (around $150,000) in e-signature service Legium.io. As reported last week by Kommersant, Sberbank has received a 8.06% stake in the startup.  Legium.io was one of the startups which went through a joint acceleration program by Sberbank and 500 Startups last year. 

Russian video publishing startup acquires UK company to get stronger and go global

May 29, 2020

Russian video platform Viqeo has announced the acquisition of Suggestv, a UK adtech company, as reported by RB.ru. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.  Founded in 2015, Suggestv uses machine learning to increase video views for publishers. These may “automate the embedding of video content in-article to build a predictable pre-roll revenue model and unlock new …

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Russia’s Yandex.Taxi’s IPO still on, as it struggles to stay profitable

November 12, 2020

Yandex.Taxi, the ride-hailing arm of Russian online giant Yandex, is pushing ahead with its plans to organise its highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO), while struggling to remain profitable amidst the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Earlier this month, Yandex.Taxi CEO Tigran Khudaverdyan was quoted by The Bell as saying that the company has not abandoned plans to …

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Mail.ru Group and Sberbank complete acquisition of food delivery service Samokat

November 12, 2020

Thursday last week Mail.ru Group and Sberbank announced that O2O, their ride-sharing and food delivery joint venture,  completed the acquisition of Russian food delivery startup Samokat. Following approval from corporate bodies and antimonopoly authority FAS, O2O now owns 75.6% of the service. The remaining shares (24.4%) are in the hands of Samokat’s founders and managers. The transaction …

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Russian-born social commerce major raises $42 million in Silicon Valley

May 21, 2020

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 …

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Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov extends his tech empire to smart device manufacturer

May 19, 2020

Yadro, a major vendor of hardware data storage systems controlled by Alisher Usmanov , has acquired a 51% stake in notAnotherOne.  Founded in 2013, notAnotherOne is a full-cycle developer and manufacturer of innovative consumer and business electronics. The company focuses on industrial design, technology research, hardware design and cloud solution integration.  notAnotherOne claims to have developed and manufactured six mobile apps, four cloud solutions and more than …

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