International

‘Sovereign Internet’ law: Why Russia could break the Internet

June 6, 2019

It finally happened, at the beginning of May president Vladimir Putin signed a bill that seeks to establish Russia’s “internet sovereignty.”  The law’s explanatory note bluntly asserts that it was prepared taking into account the aggressive nature of the U.S. National Cybersecurity Strategy adopted in 2018: “Under these conditions, protective measures are necessary for ensuring the long term …

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Startup Connect Contest: A call to Russian and Finnish tech startups (apply until June 10)

May 17, 2019

Are you a Finnish or Russian startup, and ready to visit Finland in the first week of August? Startup Connect Contest is for you! Applications have opened till June 10. Organised by Cursor Oy and GoTech Innovation, Startup Connect Contest was built with a singular mission in mind: to support startups, student entrepreneurship, as well …

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Russian state fund to launch startup accelerators in Bahrain

May 19, 2019

RVC, the Russian state fund-of-funds dedicated to innovation, has announced a partnership with Alkeri Partners, a venture capital and private equity firm from the Kingdom of Bahrain, to create a series of GenerationS corporate accelerators for Russian and international startups in Bahrain.  Run by RVC, GenerationS is a Russian state-backed acceleration platform that connects startups with corporations. …

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April 2019 in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: $150m for e-commerce, Elon Musk invited, Notre-Dame restored

May 15, 2019

Crunchbase and East-West Digital News are teaming up to cover key tech and venture trends from Russia and neighboring countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Since January 2019, EWDN chief editor Adrien Henni has offered a monthly column to highlight the most notable industry facts and trends as well as promising tech innovations from these countries. The April review highlights the …

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Report: AI arms race is starting, states and private companies should stop it

May 10, 2019

The Netherlands-based international peace organisation PAX has just released a report on “The State of AI: Artificial Intelligence, the Military and Increasingly Autonomous Weapons.” The authors warn that “an AI arms race is in its infancy” with “potentially catastrophic results for humanity if states do not ensure human control over emerging weapons technology.”  The report urges governments to work together: “States should …

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Target Global General Partner Mike Lobanov: “With or without Brexit, London will continue to be a top global tech hub”

May 6, 2019

An VC firm headquartered in Berlin with €700 million in assets under management, Target Global has just opened an office in London, coming in addition to its Moscow and Tel Aviv offices. In this interview, the firm’s General Partner Mike Lobanov shared his views about the Russian venture market and the prospects of Europe’s key …

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President Putin signs controversial “sovereign Internet” bill into law

May 3, 2019

Unsurprisingly the Russian president signed into law on May 1 a bill which aims to “ensure the safe and sustainable functioning” of the Internet in the country. The authorities say the law will defend the country against foreign aggression, serving as insurance, in case Russia’s global Internet access is shut off from abroad.  Supporters of …

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Prisma Labs raises $6 million from Belarusian investor to develop new products

May 2, 2019

Prisma Labs, the Russian company which made the news in 2016 with an art filter app based inspired by neural networks, has just secured $6 million. The round was led by Haxus, the fund of Belarusian investor Yuri Gursky, which already invested in the company at the seed stage in 2016 – along with Mail.Ru …

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Russian-Israeli investor Lev Leviev invests in eSports giant Fnatic

May 2, 2019

Lev Leviev, a prominent Russian-Israeli tech investor, has led a $19 million for London-based eSports club Fnatic via his fund LVL1 Group. Investors Beringea, BlackPine, Unbound, Raptor Group and Joi Ito also took part in the round. The fresh funding will help Fnatic “continue its global expansion into Asia and North America, strengthen its involvement …

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Russian conglomerate Sistema attracts $20 million to increase investments in Indian startups

April 30, 2019

AFK Sistema, a Russian LSE-listed conglomerate, has attracted $20 million to increase Sistema Asia Capital, its corporate fund dedicated to investment in Indian tech startups. Almost half of the funding was brought by individual investors from India, the business daily Kommersant reported yesterday, citing exchange with managing partner Andrey Terebenin. Sistema Asia Capital now amounts …

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Russian-founded ride-hailing service raises $15 million, moves headquarters to London

May 2, 2019

Wheely, a Russian-founded luxury ride-hailing service, hase raised $15 million from a pool of investors that includes UK investment partnership Concentric and three Russian tech businessmen – Oleg Cheltsov, Dmitry Eremeev and Mikhail Sokolov.  Wheely allows customers to book chauffeur-driven journeys both on-demand and pre-booked through an app. Its service is available in six Russian …

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