Leading Russian mobile operator MegaFon announced on June 10 that it has acquired NetByNet, a fixed broadband Internet, digital TV and IP telephony operator. The value of this transaction is approximately $270 million with the final amount depending on financial performance of the company in 2011, MegaFon explained.
Russia now has its own collaborative content discovery service for the Web, SurfingBird.ru. The site, inspired by the StumbleUpon concept, appeared just weeks ago and is still in the beta phase. Its distinctive ‘share’ button has begun spreading among Russian websites including some important ones like RuTube.ru, the top Russian video hosting service.
The European Business Angels Association (EBAN) announced last week that its 2012 congress would be held in Russia, reports Allventure.ru, a website published by the Russian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (RVCA).
Pirated software accounted for 65% of the volume of all software units installed on PCs in Russia for the year — down 2% from 2009 but nevertheless representing a commercial value of approximately $3 billion, reports Business Software Alliance (BSA) in its 2010 report on global piracy.
Microsoft will run a 30-day ad campaign in Russian newspapers Delovoy Peterburg and The Moscow News in an effort to notify the parties responsible for the Rustock botnet that the botnet has been shut down and that they are being summoned to court, the company reported in its blog on Monday.
Prominent Russian venture fund Almaz Capital Partners has provided a round of financing for Tallinn based online dating service Flirtic, the latter reported in a news release yesterday. The undisclosed amount will be used for the development of Flirtic in Russian and English speaking communities.
Yandex announced earlier this week it will finance St. Petersburg-based Zenmoney.ru, a personal accounting and budget planning service. This seed financing round of an undisclosed amount will be made under Yandex.Factory, an investment program launched last April to help startups finance their product, prototype, or project development at the seed or early stage.
AlterGeo, a Russian startup inspired by the Foursquare concept, announced yesterday it has closed a third round of financing with Intel Capital, prominent Russian venture fund Almaz Capital — sometimes called the Almaz-Cisco fund, and U.S. angel investor Esther Dyson, who is involved in several Russian IT projects.
Russia and Iran have agreed to build a high-speed telecommunications cable linking Europe to Persia, signing the deal on Wednesday during a visit to Iran by Russian Minister of Communications and Mass Media Igor Shchegolev. The information superhighway will start in Oman, pass through Iran and Russia, and end in Germany. The line may eventually be extended to …
Authorities in the Rostov region have announced plans to allocate $31 million to finance an innovation development program in 2012-2015, regional officials report. The funds are reportedly to be assigned from the regional budget. According to plans, the program will define mechanisms to attract investors to the innovation sector and provide for a favorable investment climate in the Rostov region.
Russia’s leading online shoe retailer Sapato.ru announced today that it has raised $12 million in a third round of financing. Intel Capital, Intel’s global investment fund, led the investment round along with earlier investors in the project – Direct Group, a Western investment company operating in Moscow through its incubator FastLane, eVenture Capital Partners, the …
Microsoft has denied any intention to hand over Skype encryption algorithms to the FSB, Russia’s Security Service. At a press conference held yesterday morning, Microsoft’s representative in Russia, Nikolai Pryanishnikov, made an ambiguous statement about such a possibility, saying “I would be glad to do it” after Skype is integrated into the company, reported several …
Microsoft waffles, then denies offering Skype encryption code to FSB Read More
