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Russian-Israeli investor Lev Leviev invests in eSports giant Fnatic

May 2, 2019

Lev Leviev, a prominent Russian-Israeli tech investor, has led a $19 million for London-based eSports club Fnatic via his fund LVL1 Group. Investors Beringea, BlackPine, Unbound, Raptor Group and Joi Ito also took part in the round. The fresh funding will help Fnatic “continue its global expansion into Asia and North America, strengthen its involvement …

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UK digital bank Revolut at risk of losing EU licences amid questions over alleged Kremlin links

April 24, 2019

British digital bank Revolut is at risk of losing its European banking licences amid fresh questions over its alleged links to the Kremlin.  The company, one of Europe’s fastest growing fintechs, was granted its European licences through the Bank of Lithuania in December.  The move was designed to help the nation challenge the UK as Europe’s financial technology …

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Russian video games billionaires Igor and Dmitry Bukhman: “Our games are at the top, but almost nobody knows us”

April 23, 2019

In April, Bloomberg added Igor and Dmitry Bukhman to its list of US dollar billionaires. The brothers, born in the northwest Russian city of Vologda, founded a video game company out of their hometown in 2004. Now, Playrix, which employs more than 1,000 employees and entertains about 30 million users every day with popular games like Homescapes and Township. The Bukhmans …

Russian video games billionaires Igor and Dmitry Bukhman: “Our games are at the top, but almost nobody knows us” Read More

Saul Orbach: “One of the challenges of Eastern European startups is to create solutions that have more than a local appeal”

April 19, 2019

International venture partner Saul Orbach recently visited GoTech, a major startup event in Moscow. In this interview, Orbach analyzes the challenges faced by startups from emerging markets willing to go global, providing an interesting comparison between Eastern Europe and Latin America. You are a venture partner of Starta Ventures and BrightSky ventures. Starta Ventures works …

Saul Orbach: “One of the challenges of Eastern European startups is to create solutions that have more than a local appeal” Read More

Yandex.Market Chairman of the Board Gabriel Naouri: “The Russian market offers huge opportunities and is very open to foreign players”

July 13, 2019

A former top executive of Casino Group, a major French retail group, and advisor to the CEOof Æon Group, Japan’s largest retailer, Gabriel Naouri is Chairman of the Board of Yandex.Market. This Yandex-Sberbank joint venture, agreed in 2017, owns three e-commerce platforms: Yandex Market, a popular e-commerce aggregation and price comparison platform launched in 2002; Beru, an …

Yandex.Market Chairman of the Board Gabriel Naouri: “The Russian market offers huge opportunities and is very open to foreign players” Read More

Former minister and investor Mikhail Abyzov detained in criminal case in Moscow

April 2, 2019

Former Open Government minister Mikhail Abyzov was detained yesterday in Moscow. A figure of the Russian electricity market, Abyzov was also involved in the venture business in the early 2010s. He is now accused of having embezzled and hidden abroad 4 billion rubles (around $62 million). According to the investigation, Abyzov and his accomplices stole …

Former minister and investor Mikhail Abyzov detained in criminal case in Moscow Read More

Vladimir Gurdus: “Artificial intelligence could well become your future practitioner”

March 26, 2019

The Russian telemedicine market is expected to grow to some 90 billion rubles (approximately $1.4 billion), or 2.8% of the entire healthcare market, by 2030. As new prospects have been opened by a new legal framework, leading Russian companies and investors – including Mail.Ru Group, RDIF, Sberbank, Skolkovo and Yandex, to name just a few …

Vladimir Gurdus: “Artificial intelligence could well become your future practitioner” Read More

500 Startups mentor Tristan Pollock: “What surprised me about Moscow winter and Russian startups”

December 11, 2020

In late 2018, the Russian state bank Sberbank and 500 Startups launched a joint acceleration program intended for Russian startups with a global potential. Thirty companies enjoyed the support of 25 American mentors and entrepreneurs-in-residence who made the trip to the Russian capital. Among these entrepreneurs-in-residence was Tristan Pollock, whom East-West Digital News met in …

500 Startups mentor Tristan Pollock: “What surprised me about Moscow winter and Russian startups” Read More

Calvey ends first month in detention, business leaders express concern

March 19, 2019

As U.S. investor Michael Calvey ended his first month in detention on Thursday prominent Russian businessmen told President Vladimir Putin they are concerned the case will put pressure on business.    Russian state prosecutors have charged Calvey, the founder of the Baring Vostok private equity group, with fraud along with three other executives from his fund. Calvey denies …

Calvey ends first month in detention, business leaders express concern Read More

Moscow court rejects appeals against pre-trial detention of Baring Vostok top executives

March 4, 2019

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday last week the Moscow Municipal Court rejected appeals against pre-trial detention for Baring Vostok’s top executives, including US citizen Michael Calvey, founder, French citizen Philippe Delpal, Partner, and Russian citizen Ivan Zyuzin, Investment Director. Baring Vostok, which does “not agree with the charges that have been brought against them,” announced …

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Closed-door endorsement or “factual statements:” How President Putin has involved himself in the Baring Vostok case

March 4, 2019

To which extent was Russian President Vladimir Putin personally aware or supportive of the decision to prosecute Michael Calvey, the founder of leading Russian private equity firm Baring Vostok? The question has been actively discussed since the US businessman’s arrest on Feb.15. Assumptions of the Kremlin’s at least knowledge of the matter stem from the …

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Introverted, daring, and very rich: Meet Tatyana Bakalchuk, half of Russia’s woman-billionaire population

July 13, 2019

In the spring of 2004, school teacher Tatyana Bakalchuk and her husband Vyacheslav, a radiophysicist, realized they weren’t earning enough money to provide for their infant son. So they decided to launch an online clothing store. Fond of brightly colored clothes, Bakalchuk named her business “Wildberries.” She was the company’s first customer, and she used …

Introverted, daring, and very rich: Meet Tatyana Bakalchuk, half of Russia’s woman-billionaire population Read More

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