To which extent was Russian President Vladimir Putin personally aware or supportive of the decision to prosecute Michael Calvey, the founder of leading Russian private equity firm Baring Vostok? The question has been actively discussed since the US businessman’s arrest on Feb.15. Assumptions of the Kremlin’s at least knowledge of the matter stem from the …
B2B-Export, an online platform that helps Russian industrial companies sell their products abroad, has received $4 million from African businessman Isaac Kwaku Fokuo, Jr., in exchange for a 5% stake. The news was reported last week by the online publication Rusbase based on an exchange with B2B-Export’s founder Ekaterina Dyachenko. “We have a common geographic …
Russian marketplace B2B-Export secures $4 million from top African businessman Read More
The e-commerce marketplace JOOM, whose mobile shopping app sells products from China at cut-rate prices directly to buyers, is recruiting French brands to bolster its merchant roster in a market it sees as key to cracking Europe and taking on Amazon. Launched in 2016, the Russia-based company currently offers some 10 million mostly chinese-made products …
Russian digital shopping app JOOM targets France in challenge to Amazon Read More
Roskomnadzor, the Russian telecom and Internet regulator, initiated today a lawsuit against Twitter for failing to provide information about its compliance with the Russian data-localization law. The US microblogging platform is now facing an administrative fine of 5,000 rubles ($764 at the current exchange rate). Ultimately Twitter, should it violate the law, could be blocked …
Twitter targeted by lawsuit for non compliance with Russian data-localization law Read More
US industry association IAOP has just released a new edition of its annual Global Outsourcing 100 ranking to identify what it judges to be the best IT outsourcing service providers in the world. This year’s ranking, unlike for the previous editions, features “companies that have led the development of the industry, as reflected in their place on …
Yesterday four key European business associations operating in Russia published a “common statement” with regards to the Baring Vostok case in which two foreign top managers of the firm, US citizen Michael Calvey and French citizen Philippe Delpal, were detained Friday. These business associations stated the following: The Association of European Businesses, the German-Russian Chamber …
In March 2018, the users or Yandex, Russia’s most popular search engine, noticed a peculiar feature: if you typed “govno” – Russian for “sh*t” – in the Yandex.Maps search (who does that?!) the first address Yandex gives you is Moscow, Balchug Street, 7 – the headquarters of Google Inc. in Russia. Hours later Yandex explained …
Facebook and Google’s Russian rivals: Why are they winning? Read More
The 12th edition of Midemlab, the leading international music startup competition, will take place on June 4-7, 2019 in Cannes, France, in partnership with East-West Digital News. Russian startups are welcome to participate. This is an opportunity for them – as well as for projects from other CEE countries – to find new business partners, raise funding, …
Rusnano, the Russian state-controlled nanotechnology corporation, has exited Quantenna Communications, a US-based provider of high-performance Wi-Fi solutions, six years after an investment of around $20 million in the company. Revealed by SEC documents and confirmed by Rusnano, the exit transaction took place December 2018. The Russian firm received some $43 million in exchange for its …
Rusnano exits US Wi-Fi chipset provider Quantenna with high return Read More
US citizen Michael Calvey, a figure of the Russian private equity scene, was detained Friday in Moscow as part of a large-scale fraud investigation (read more about the charges). The news has put the Russian investor and tech community under shock. Calvey is the founder of Baring Vostok Capital Partners, one of the most established …
Baring Vostok founder under arrest: The Russian tech investment community under shock Read More
In December last year Vostok New Ventures (VNV), a major Swedish investment firm operating internationally, invested $4.5 million in online bus ticketing platform Busfor, in addition to the $4 million it had injected in the company in mid-2018. The latest transaction was revealed yestersday by business daily Kommersant, based on VNV’s latest financial report and …
Swedish investor VNV injected $8.5 million in Busfor in 2018 Read More
International brands and retailers selling to Russia, or considering doing so, are invited to participate in an online survey. They will receive the research report free of charge upon release. While Russian e-commerce is entering a promising development cycle, information about this market is hardly available to international audiences. Not only is the topic rarely …
Russian e-commerce research: Market analysis, operational challenges, players’ strategies Read More
