Novosibirsk State University (NSU) and Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics (TUSUR) are teaming up to create a joint university venture fund of up to 900 million rubles (nearly $14 million at the current exchange rate) over five years. The partners expect to attract funding from both private and state-owned organizations. The new fund will focus on …
Two Siberian universities to launch joint venture fund Read More
Earlier this week Russian music-streaming platform Zvooq announced it secured an investment of $5 million in a round led by Ulmart, Russia’s leading online retailer, with the participation of ther unnamed investors. The terms of the deal, which was reported earlier this week by Vedomosti, have not been disclosed. The investment went through Dream Industries, a holding company which comprises …
Music-streaming platform Zvooq raises $5 million in equity funding Read More
Illustrating the intense ties between the Russian and Israeli tech communities, Janvest Capital Partners, an early-stage investment fund focusing on Israeli startups, has teamed up with two Russian funds, Altair Capital and Leta Capital, to inject $2.4 million in Israeli startup Unomy. The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. Created in 2012, Unomy has …
Israel business intelligence startup raises $2.4 million from Israeli and Russian funds Read More
Russia’s national savings bank Sberbank has teamed up with the Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF, or FRII in Russian), Russia’s largest seed and early stage venture fund. FRII will select projects while Sberbank will provide startups with expertise and funding for pilot projects. The money will come from Sberbank itself and its venture arm SBT Venture Capital, launched …
Sberbank and IIDF team up to launch fintech accelerator Read More
In yet another illustration of the internationalization of Russian venture capital, two funds with Russian roots, Impulse VC and Phystech Ventures, have invested in UK adtech startup Locomizer. The seed round, which amounts to $300,000, may be followed by additional capital injections of up to $1.5 million by the end of this year. This startup — which also has Russian roots — claims …
A new artificial intelligence (AI) startup has raised $3 million and launched its first product to help people find information buried in documents, files, email attachments, and more. Christened Findo, this startup is the brainchild of David Yang, a prominent tech entrepreneur with a Russian background, and Gary Fowler, a US startup entrepreneur and mentor who has introduced many Eastern …
Earlier this month Winter Capital, an investment advisory firm backed indirectly by Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin, announced a $3 million investment plan in several tranches for StickerRide. Created in 2013, this Moscow-based startup connects car owners with brands to organize advertising campaigns. The StickerRide application helps car drivers earn a little extra each month by using their …
Earlier this month iBondis, a London, UK-based online P2P lending platform for SMEs, closed a venture capital funding round of undisclosed amount. The round was led by Run Capital, with participation from an unnamed institutional investor and an individual investor. The company intends to use the funds to expand the service in Europe, mainly in …
Russia’s Run Capital invests in UK P2P lending platform Read More
Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin is among the first ones to take advantage of the lifting of most international sanctions on Iran. Winter Capital Partners (WCP), a private equity and venture capital fund controlled by Potanin’s Interros, has recently acquired a stake in Pomegranate. This Swedish company actively invests in Iranian digital assets via Sarava, a …
After-sanction era: Russian businessmen invest in Iranian digital markets Read More
Since the beginning of this year, at least six corporate venture funds have been launched or started operations in Russia. Four of them were created by AFK Sistema, a Russian, LSE-listed conglomerate. Sistema Venture Capital, the most recent one, started operating last month in Moscow. It has raised 10 billion rubles (approximately $154 million at the current exchange rate) to support globally-oriented …
Russian corporations launch giant startup investment programs Read More
Life.Sreda, a Singapore-based venture fund with Russian origins, is launching a new venture fund dedicated to investing in the blockchain ecosystem. Christened ‘Banking on Blockchain Fund,’ or ‘BB Fund,’ the new fund will provide start-up capital for early stage blockchain companies that have use cases relevant to banks. Starting with an initial capital infusion of $5 …
Life.Sreda launches international fund to help banks invest in blockchain startups Read More
Yesterday Runa Capital, a venture investment firm operating globally from its offices in Moscow, London and San Francisco, announced that it has closed its second fund, Runa Capital Fund II, having raised $135 million. As a result, Runa has $270 million under management, taking into account its first fund, which also amounted to $135 million. The firm declined to …
