On May 12-14 EMERGE, a top tech conference covering Eastern Europe and Central Asia, will hold its third edition in an online format and in English language (more information and tickets here). With participation from high-level speakers from the region and beyond, the program will cover a variety of topics such as: No planet B: how …
AliExpress Russia, a leading cross-border and domestic e-commerce platform in Russia, has invested in a major regional e-commerce company, KazanExpress, acquiring a 30% stake. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed but, in an exchange with Kommersant, KazanExpress co-owner Linar Khusnullin refered to an amount of “several billions of rubles” (dozens of millions of …
AliExpress Russia invests in regional marketplace KazanExpress Read More
Earlier this month in Germany, a Russian-founded startup launched a “4-in-1 finance platform” for SMBs — a solution that automates admin and accounting processes. The startup, dubbed Monite, also announced the completion of a €1.1 million pre-seed funding round, which involved no less than 10 investors. Among them are Berlin-based signals Venture Capital, Zurich-based Tomahawk VC, Turkish fund InVentures …
Two startup entrepreneurs from Russia aim to “revolutionize SME finance” in Germany Read More
The Russian government plans to create a “digital residency” system for foreign IT companies. According to this initiative, Russia will adopt legislation by the end of 2021 that will oblige foreign companies with a client base of more than 100,000–500,000 Russian users to register legal entities in the country and pay taxes. Foreign nationals will …
Russia plans to require foreign IT companies to open local offices and pay taxes Read More
Starting April 1, 2021, tech device manufacturers will be required to pre-install Russian-made, government-approved applications and software onto new devices sold on Russian soil. Dubbed “anti-Apple law,” this legislation was adopted in late 2019 as part of the Putin administration’s “sovereign Internet” strategy. While the law did not specify what devices new electronic devices are …
Softline Venture Partners, the venture arm of Russian software giant Softline, has invested in T-1 Group, a provider of B2B and B2C telematics solutions and navigation technologies. No details of the transaction were disclosed. “The acquisition of a stake in T-1 Group is an investment in the rapid growth of the transport telematics market, which is simply …
A Kremlin attempt to slow down Twitter caused government websites to crash and raised new questions about its ambitious plans to regulate the internet. Wednesday last week was supposed to be a big day for Andrei Lipov, a 51-year-old Russian top official trusted with the Kremlin’s most sensitive internet initiatives. A not very successful internet …
Russia’s pursuit of Internet sovereignty backfires, again Read More
Tinkoff, the Russian digital banking leader, has integrated its AI-powered voice assistant ‘Oleg’ into Clubhouse — claiming to be the first one in the world to do so. The capabilities of the voice assistant as a “a full-fledged Clubhouse user” are described as follows: ‘Oleg’ can use its text-to-speech and speech-to-text capabilities (Tinkoff VoiceKit) in real time to “help …
Tinkoff launches AI-powered voice assistant on Clubhouse Read More
Earlier this month Mail.ru Group and AliExpress Russia achieved yet another step in their e-commerce integration plans with the launch of Multimarket. This single interface allows merchants to manage their sales simultaneously via the AliExpress Russia site and Mail.Ru’s properties — including social networks VK and Odnoklassniki, and classifieds platform Youla. Registered merchants can place …
In late February Wildberries, the number one Russian e-commerce company, launched in three new EU countries: France, Italy and Spain — just weeks after its debut on German soil. Through localized web and mobile interfaces (France, Italy, Spain), online shoppers from these three countries can access more than four million products from some 40,000 brands — from …
Russian e-commerce leader Wildberries launches in France, Italy and Spain Read More
The Russian Internet and telecom regulator Rokomnadzor announced today first steps to disrupt Twitter’s speed within the country for failing to remove banned content. These measures are said to affect “100% of cellphones and 50% of personal computers” in the country. “Starting March 10, 2021, centralized response measures have been taken against Twitter to protect Russian citizens and force the [social …
Russia restrains Twitter’s speed and sues other social media over illegal content Read More
More than 500 industry professionals, including 300+ investors interested in the CEE region, are expected to participate in the 2nd edition of 0100 Virtual CEE, a major PE/VC regional conference. The event will take place online from 16th to 18th March, 2021. Participants will include senior level General Partners from renowned PE/VC funds and Limited Partners — including pension funds, funds of funds, family …
0100 Virtual CEE: Hundreds of PE/VC professionals to meet online (March 16-18) Read More
