Yandex invests in social commerce app
Russian search system Yandex announced last week its intention to allocate funding for Social Market, a startup from Moscow developing a social commerce application, within the Yandex.Factory program.
Venture / Private equity
Russian state owned fund participates in Shazam round of financing
Russian state owned fund of funds Russian Venture Company (RVC) has participated indirectly in a $32 million round of financing for London based Shazam Entertainment, the developer of a popular application for mobile devices.
California’s Garage Technology Ventures to invest in Russian startups
Palo Alto based Garage Technology Ventures is partnering with Moscow based incubator Digital October to invest in Russian high tech startups with international potential. The news was reported yesterday by Russian business daily Vedomosti based on exchanges with Digital October General manager Dmitry Repin and Garage Technology Managing Director Bill Reichert.
Russian university invests $1 million in electronic gardening
Synergy Innovations, the venture arm of the Moscow University of Industry and Finance, will invest $1 million into the i-Ogorod web service – ‘i Garden’ in Russian – a project allowing its users to set up real vegetable gardens and manage them through the Internet.
PepsiCo extends angel investment program to Russian tech startups
Through its PepsiCo10 program, multinational beverage and snack maker PepsiCo will offer £10,000, approximately $16,000, along with consulting services from leading specialists in the company and its partners to ten digital technology startups in 2011. Launched in the US in 2010, the PepsiCo10 angel investment program has been extended this year to cover Europe and …
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Rambler to pour $1 million per year into Russian tech and media startups
Rambler, the once prominent but now second tier Russian search engine, has announced on company blog on Thursday the establishment of a new venture fund named Rambler-Fund. The fund has been set up in partnership with media firm Afisha.
VTB Capital develops IT portfolio with web conferencing startup
VTB Capital Asset Management announced last week it has invested in COMDI, a leading player on the Russian video conferencing market. Founded in 2009, COMDI specializes in web conferences as well as online training and broadcasts. Before this round of financing, COMDI was funded by its founders and an undisclosed business angel.
Tartarstan confirms momentum on Russian Internet scene
During a visit to Kazan yesterday, Google Russia representative Vladimir Dolgov praised Tatarstan for its Internet penetration rates, which stand among the highest in Russia. Having noticed the large quantity of schools with Internet connections and local WIFI hotspots, Dolgov said that Tatarstan “has all the necessary foundations for further development of Internet and online …
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First content discovery service launched on Russian Internet
Russia now has its own collaborative content discovery service for the Web, SurfingBird.ru. The site, inspired by the StumbleUpon concept, appeared just weeks ago and is still in the beta phase. Its distinctive ‘share’ button has begun spreading among Russian websites including some important ones like RuTube.ru, the top Russian video hosting service.
Russia to host congress of European business angels in 2012
The European Business Angels Association (EBAN) announced last week that its 2012 congress would be held in Russia, reports Allventure.ru, a website published by the Russian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (RVCA).
Leading Russian venture fund provides hope chest for Estonian dating startup
Prominent Russian venture fund Almaz Capital Partners has provided a round of financing for Tallinn based online dating service Flirtic, the latter reported in a news release yesterday. The undisclosed amount will be used for the development of Flirtic in Russian and English speaking communities.
Yandex invests in personal finance startup
Yandex announced earlier this week it will finance St. Petersburg-based Zenmoney.ru, a personal accounting and budget planning service. This seed financing round of an undisclosed amount will be made under Yandex.Factory, an investment program launched last April to help startups finance their product, prototype, or project development at the seed or early stage.
