Russian venture fund iTech Capital announced last week its investment in iConText, a leading independent provider of search engine marketing (SEM) services. The transaction amount has not been disclosed, but the fund stated that it acquired “more than 25%” of the company. Founded in 2002, iConText focuses on pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns. Among its 650 clients …
In late July, Bay.ru (Bayru), a leading cross border sales operator facilitating Russian consumers’ purchases from eBay, Amazon, and other international e-commerce sites, announced that it had raised $4 million to strengthen its marketing and fulfillment capacities. The funds were brought in by existing and new investors from the US, Europe, and Asia. Neither the …
Cross-border sales operator Bay.ru secures $4 million Read More
Last week, Russian search giant Yandex released the tri-lingual beta version of its Islands, search snippets aimed at improving search results and helping users find solutions to specific problems by delivering results in the form of interactive blocks. According to Yandex, the new feature offers a “shortcut to users’ ultimate search goals,” making it possible …
Yandex launches new beta version of its Islands interactive search feature Read More
Arkady Volozh, the other founder of Yandex, announced the sad news on the official company blog on July 28. “The changes in the blood were no longer compatible with life. He had to be given a chance to leave with dignity. The doctors turned him off yesterday, his heart stopped,” Volozh wrote. Early reports indicated …
Yandex co-founder Ilya Segalovich dies at 48 in London Read More
A few months after the merger of Avito,ru, Olx.ru, and Slando.ru, which have formed Russia’s leading online classifieds company, market consolidation continues with Media3’s acquisition of Cian.ru. A major Russian media publishing, commercial printing, and distribution group, Media3 plans to merge Cian.ru and Dmir.ru, a sizable classifieds group with seven thematic platforms – including real …
Media3 acquires realty classifieds site Cian.ru with leadership ambitions Read More
A Moscow court ruled earlier this week that Russia’s Federal Service for Financial Markets (FSFM) broke the law when it fined Rambler Internet Holding, a sizable Russian-language news portal and webmail service, for protecting its users’ constitutional right to privacy in email correspondence. The FSFM had ordered Rambler to disclose email information during the financial …
A prominent Russian legislator has censured Google for shifting its Russian tax burden to local contractors – just weeks after Google and other US Internet companies were accused of avoiding taxes in countries like France, Italy, and the UK. Ruslan Gattarov, a senator heading the committee for information policy of the Council of the Federation …
Every day, 300 million new photos are loaded onto Facebook; Instagram users publish 58 pictures each second. Not uploading what you had for lunch or the thousandth image of your favorite cat in the social network has become almost indecent. However, most users do not really care about what, and with what kind of optical …
Russian startup Photozeen uses games to teach photography Read More
At a moment when the Russian online video market is witnessing notable evolutions due to the tightening of the copyright legislation, Tvigle.ru, a major Russian video entertainment portal, has launched an enhanced version of its SaaS video publishing platform. Christened ‘Video Publisher Cloud,’ the platform allows publishers to convert, store, and distribute their video content, …
Tvigle launches new SaaS platform to distribute and monetize video content Read More
Roskomnadzor, Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, released its annual report on the personal data law last week. The agency reported 53 personal data leaks in Russia in 2012. Around 30 cases involved non-compliance with the requirements of the personal data law, while the remaining 20 cases involved an …
State authorities uncovered 53 personal data leaks in 2012 Read More
Investing in US startups has become a habit for certain Russian venture funds, as shown by a recent $700,000 capital injection into California-based Venturocket.com, an innovative online “talent discovery platform.” The round was led by Runa Capital, a venture fund with offices in Moscow and California, with the participation of Talent Equity Ventures, the venture arm of a Russian …
Californian startup raises $700,000 to put an end to “résumé spam” Read More
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Russia’s second most popular social network, Odnoklassniki.ru, have teamed up to help Russia’s rare and endangered species. This week, the two launched a “Rare Page” on the social network’s 404-error page to encourage users to help protect and preserve rare animals. Users who incorrectly type the social network’s address …
Social network Odnoklassniki and WWF team up to help endangered species Read More
