Russian and international media have been abuzz in recent days over a new round of website blockings by the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications (Roskomnadzor). This comes on the heels of changes in the mediascape which have been perceived as setbacks to the liberal media in the …
Russian authorities tighten screws on online media Read More
Reacting to the loss of traction of the once widely popular instant messenger ICQ, Russia’s Mail.ru Group earlier this month released a fully redesigned version of the program. Android users are the first to enjoy the new messaging and VoIP functions. The updated version offers free video calls, group chats and stickers. Users can also …
German media company BURDA is one of the biggest publishers in Russia, producing titles including fashion magazine Burda, women’s mag Liza and its children’s version Liza Girl, tech journals Chip and Computer Bild and men’s mag Playboy. Worldwide the firm has been making strategic investments in digital media projects for more than a decade, and …
Russian business daily Vedomosti revealed this past Friday that United Capital Partners (UCP), the Russian fund that currently owns 48% of Vkontakte (VK.com), has offered to sell its stake to majority shareholder Mail.ru Group. Mail.ru Group has been trying to take full control of the network for several years – a step which Vkontakte’s founder and CEO Pavel …
UCP considers selling its Vkontakte stake to Mail.ru Group Read More
“Doctor At Work,” Russia’s leading physicians’ community, has just secured $3 million from three major Russian venture funds – existing investors Aurora Venture Capital and Bright Capital, and new investor Guard Capital. The deal valued the startup at $16.5 million. A part of the funds – less than one third, Bright Capital’s press service told East-West Digital News …
Leading physicians’ community ‘Doctor At Work’ secures $3 million Read More
Mail.ru Group announced yesterday that it has signed an agreement to acquire an additional 12% stake in Vkontakte.ru, the leading Russian-language social network also known as VK.com. Should the deal – which is “conditional on a number of matters, including third-party consent” – be completed, the LSE-listed Internet group will own 52% of Vkontakte. The remaining 48% …
Mail.ru Group to become majority shareholder of Vkontakte.ru Read More
In 2013 the share of events tickets bought online increased almost threefold to 12.4%, according to e-ticketing service TicketForEvent. The figure, which include tickets for entertainment, sporting and business-related events in Russia, is based on open data provided by ticket-vendors and event organisers, as well as TicketForEvent’s own statistics. TicketForEvent expects this growth to continue, …
Today Yandex, the Russian search giant, announced the acquisition of Israeli startup KitLocate, the developer of an energy-efficient geolocation technology for mobile devices. The solution provides location capabilities, including geo-fencing, motion detection and social location, for location-based apps on the user’s iOS or Android smartphone. Furthermore, it allows location-based apps to request the device’s geographic coordinates less frequently “without …
Yandex acquires Israeli geo-location technology developer KitLocate Read More
Billionaire Alisher Usmanov sold shares in Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc., focusing on technology investments in China such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and may expand stakes in Russian assets, an executive said. “Chinese companies account for about 70 percent to 80 percent of the portfolio of our foreign Internet investments,” Ivan Streshinskiy, head of …
Billionaire Usmanov aims at China after Apple, Facebook sale Read More
Two leading Russian online retailers, Ozon and Ulmart, are holding discussions with investors to fuel expansion in a market that grew by almost 30% last year. Ozon, a pioneering e-commerce holding with notable similarities to Amazon.com, is in the final stages of talks with AFK Sistema, a Russian LSE-listed holding operating in a range of …
Russian e-commerce leaders Ozon and Ulmart in funding talks Read More
Hackers have taken down several Russian media website in the past week and alleged attacks on defense infrastructure in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Among the latest victims, on March 7, was the website of Rossiyskaya Gazeta, one of the largest Russian dailies, the paper of record of the Russian government, and the parent …
Russian government paper’s site taken down by pro-Ukraine hackers Read More
Surfingbird.ru, the first collaborative content discovery service on the Russian-language Internet, has raised $2.5 million from Russian fund Klever Internet Investments. The transaction, revealed last week by the Russian business daily Vedomosti, was confirmed to East-West Digital News by the startup’s CEO Sergey Shalaev. Launched in 2011, SurfingBird is inspired by US site StumbleUpon.com, which …
Russian-language content discovery service Surfingbird closes $2.5 million Series B round Read More
