International

Russian-founded startup raised $8 million to develop car rental services across the world

January 31, 2019 February 4, 2019

Get Transfer, a car rental startup with Russian roots operating internationally, has raised $8 million in total since early 2018, with a last capital injection of $3 million this month. The main investors are two international funds with Eastern European managers, Emery Capital and Castel Capital, and Russian airline S7 Group. The latest deal valued Get Transfer at …

Russian-founded startup raised $8 million to develop car rental services across the world Read More

Yandex.Taxi “likely” to go public, says executive

January 29, 2019 February 5, 2019

Yandex.Taxi, the joint venture created last year by Yandex and Uber to merge their activities in Russia and neighboring countries, intends to go public in the future, said a Yandex executive last week on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. “We already said in the past that Yandex.Taxi can and is likely to …

Yandex.Taxi “likely” to go public, says executive Read More

Naspers takes full control of Avito, Russia’s leading classifieds site

January 28, 2019 February 15, 2019

Naspers’s classifieds business, OLX Group, announced Friday that it took full control of Avito.ru, Russia’s number one classifieds site, boosting its stake from 70.4% to 99.6%. Among the minority shareholders exiting the company is Swedish investment firm Vostok New Ventures (VNV, previously known as Vostok Nafta Investment), which will get gross proceeds of $540 million from …

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Runa Capital invests in French and German startups

January 28, 2019 February 1, 2019

Last week Runa Capital, an international venture fund with Russian roots, announced its participation in two startup funding deals in Western Europe. As reported by Tech.eu, the fund led a €7 million funding round for Vehiculum, a German-founded startup which has developed a new car leasing marketplace. Almost simultaneously, French startup Admo announced the completion of its €6 million series …

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Russia hits 27th place in Bloomberg innovation ranking, between Malaysia and Luxembourg

January 24, 2019 January 25, 2019

Bloomberg’s latest ranking of “the world’s most innovative countries,” published this Tuesday, puts Russia at the 27th place, between Malaysia and Luxembourg. In Russia’s Eastern European neighborhood, Poland does better than Russia (22th place) but Romania (29th), Ukraine (53rd) and, most surprisingly, Estonia (36th) are behind. South Korea retains the first place in this global ranking, …

Russia hits 27th place in Bloomberg innovation ranking, between Malaysia and Luxembourg Read More

TON, Pavel Durov’s blockchain platform, prepares for launch in 10 countries

January 23, 2019 January 28, 2019

Telegram Open Network (TON), Pavel Durov’s darknet blockchain platform, and its cryptocurrency Gram, could be launched publicly as soon as March 2019 – a bit later than initially planned – according to Russian tech publication The Bell. Another Russian tech media, Kod Durova (‘Durov’s code’) puts the launch date at the second quarter of this year. Meanwhile, a …

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Russia seeks to attract Asian investors to support $900 million later-stage tech fund

January 23, 2019 January 23, 2019

RVC, the state fund-of-funds dedicated to innovation, and Da Vinci Capital, a major EBRD-backed Russian private equity firm, announced Monday the launch of a 6 billion ruble ($900 million) tech fund. While Da Vinci Capital manages the fund (christened the ‘Da Vinci Pre-IPO Tech Fund’), RVC has contributed a quarter of the capital (1.5 billion rubles). Discussions with …

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Mail.Ru Group sells SK Gaming to Mercedes-Benz, “the first car maker to invest in an eSports team”

January 22, 2019 January 22, 2019

ESforce, a major eSports company acquired in early 2018 by Mail.ru Group, has sold SK Gaming, one of its key assets, to Daimler and football club FC Köln (FC Cologne). The terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Russian business publication RBC wrote, based on company information, that its object was a 67% stake …

Mail.Ru Group sells SK Gaming to Mercedes-Benz, “the first car maker to invest in an eSports team” Read More

Facebook and Twitter face administrative charges for non compliance with Russian data-localization law

January 22, 2019 January 22, 2019

Will Facebook and Twitter abide by the law on personal data storage, or could they ultimately be blocked in Russia like LinkedIn? The suspense remains as the two companies failed again last week, more than three years after the law came to force, to prove their compliance with it. Adopted in 2014 and applicable since September 2015, this law …

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UK store data solution provider BeMyEye acquires Russian StreetBee

January 21, 2019 July 13, 2019

BeMyEye, a UK-based provider of “crowdsourced perfect store data,” has acquired StreetBee, a Russian startup that has developed fast data collection and processing solutions for retail. The terms of what seems to be an all-stock deal have not been disclosed, but an unnamed source told Russian business daily Kommersant that StreetBee’s shareholders will receive a …

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Giant US investment firm OppenheimerFunds invested again in Yandex in 2017 and 2018

January 21, 2019 January 21, 2019

Since late 2017, OppenheimerFunds, a family of major investment funds, has invested again in NASDAQ-listed Yandex, according to the latest filing submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The US investment firm reportedly boosted its stake in the Russian company from 1.8% to 6.41% or 18.365 million shares as of December 31, 2018. Yandex stock is …

Giant US investment firm OppenheimerFunds invested again in Yandex in 2017 and 2018 Read More

“No reason to bury cryptocurrencies,” says Russian PM, but rumor of massive purchase of bitcoin unfounded

January 18, 2019 January 18, 2019

Government officials made contrasted statements on cryptocurrencies earlier this week at the Gaidar Forum, a yearly conference and elite gathering sometimes dubbed ‘the Russian Davos.’ Thus, Vice Prime Minister Maxim Akimov did not hide his skepticism about digital coins “as currencies,” while Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that their volatility was “not a reason to …

“No reason to bury cryptocurrencies,” says Russian PM, but rumor of massive purchase of bitcoin unfounded Read More

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