A few weeks after reshaping its user interface with a new look and logotype, the Russian video portal ‘Rutube’ has launched a major overhaul of its services. Initially a copycat of YouTube, the portal is now strongly integrating its features with social networks, offering personalized selections of videos compiled from what a user’s friends have …
Having received the green light from the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) last month, Megafon, a leading Russian mobile operator, and Scartel, the WiMAX provider switching to LTE and operating under the Yota brand, are to become part of the same holding. The news, which Russian business daily Vedomosti reported yesterday from a source close to both …
Megafon and Scartel form holding for LTE leadership Read More
Google, the US search giant, will offer AdWords vouchers of up to 2,000 rubles, or approximately $60, to any company purchasing Parallels’ solutions and having its website hosted by a Parallels partner. The offer targets small and mid-sized businesses in particular, in a bid to stimulate them to promote their products through contextual advertising. A …
Google partners with Russian hosting solution provider Parallels to stimulate sales Read More
The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development announced yesterday its intention to invest up to $30.5 million in Trivon AG, an internet broadband provider operating in Russia under the Virgin Connect brand. The financing will allow the company to expand the coverage of Trivon’s internet broadband services in the Russian regions through the acquisition of …
EBRD to invest $30.5 million in Russian Internet broadband provider Read More
Russian high tech fund Aurora Venture Capital has acquired a 25% stake in XLander.ru, a Russian social network designed for frequent travelers. The investment amount has not been disclosed, but an analyst at JP Morgan’s Moscow office estimated it could range from $1.2 million to $1.8 million, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported. Founded …
Travelers’ social network XLander.ru secures funding from Aurora Venture Capital Read More
Yandex.Dengi (‘Yandex.Money’), the e-currency of Russia’s search giant Yandex, announced last week that its users can now transfer sums from their electronic wallet to any bank account in 42 European countries. Users will pay a 3% commission fee in addition to a flat fee of 15 rubles, or approximately $0.50, news agency RIA Novosti reported. …
Russian e-currencies pursue international integration Read More
The US firm Information Protection and Authentication of Texas (IPAT) has lost its suit for patent violation in an American court against Kaspersky Lab, a Moscow-based publisher of Internet security solutions. In December 2008 IPAT filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District Court of Texas against a group of IT companies – including McAfee, Microsoft, …
Kaspersky Lab wins lawsuit against US patent troll Read More
Fast Lane Ventures, the Moscow-based serial Internet startup developer, has teamed up with Springstar, the German incubator backed by Oliver Jung and Klaus Hommel, to localize Juvalia&You on the Russian market. Juvalia&You targets women Internet users who are willing to launch their own small businesses, regardless of their professional background or age. The company provides …
Fast Lane Ventures partners with Springstar to enroll jewellery social-saleswomen Read More
Bright Capital, a major Russian venture fund operating internationally, announced last week its investment in Doktornarabote.ru (‘Doctor At Work’), Russia’s leading physicians’ community with nearly 80,000 registered practitioners. The fund offered $1 million in exchange for a minority stake in the startup online community, reported CNews.ru, a Russian IT news portal. Released in March 2010, …
‘Doctor At Work’ secures $1 million from Bright Capital Read More
While Moscow streets and sidewalks are crippled by haphazardly and illegally parked automobiles, an online city magazine, The-Village.ru, has launched a sophisticated e-campaign to identify and shame the offenders. Using a free Android application named ‘Parking Douche,’ smartphone users can take a picture of the culprit. The app then uses the user’s IP address, taps …
Android app tracks down and embarrasses Moscow’s worst parking offenders Read More
Nokia has scrapped its plans for a single-brand retail presence in Russia and will close all of 50 of its existing Russian stores in the near future, reports RIA Novosti, citing an exchange with Nokia Vice President Erik Bertman, head of Nokia Eurasia. As of yet, there’s no official confirmation of the news on Nokia’s …
Nokia ditches its Russian single-brand retail network, bets on online sales Read More
Mamas&Papas, a UK-based retailer for babies and expectant mothers, has joined with Russia’s Ideas4Retail in a Russian e-store project, the company’s Russian partner announced last week. Mamas&Papas’ single-brand online outlet will offer 12 categories of goods and more than 3,500 items, including clothing for babies and pregnant women, buggies, wheelers, carrycots, pushchairs, bath essentials, furniture, …
