At the end of June, Moscow State University’s (MSU) business incubator presented a new batch of startups at the second annual MSU Demo Day, which attracted more than 50 investors. In addition to startups created by eight MSU alumni, six more startups from other incubators – those from ITMO in St. Petersburg and the Moscow …
Earlier this month Digital October, Greenfield Project, and RVC, the Russian government’s fund of funds for innovation, presented a new Russian Startup Rating (RSR). The startups are classified according to their investment attractiveness, ranging from AAA (the highest) to D (the lowest). At present, only eight startups have received the highest rank: AlterGeo, DaOffice, EasyFamilyApps, …
Two-for-one: Digital October, Greenfield Project and RVC present new startup rating Read More
Among Russia’s billionaires, only two have made their wealth exclusively from high technology industries, according to Forbes’ latest ranking of Russia’s billionaires released earlier this month. The Russian edition of the US magazine has estimated the wealth of Arkady Volozh, the co-founder, main shareholder and CEO of NASDAQ-listed search company Yandex, at $1.15 billion.
In a new illustration of the vibrant activity of the Moscow venture scene, Maxim Shekhovtsov and Alexander Zhurba – founders of TexDrive, one of the city’s largest startup accelerators – announced last week the creation of a fund dedicated primarily to IT projects in Russia and around the world. Christened Genezis Capital, the fund actually …
New Russian high tech fund to invest up to $20 million in startups across the globe Read More
The invest abroad trend among Russian financial institutions was demonstrated again last week by a capital injection of “several million euros” in Wine in Black, a German premium wine online retailer. The round was led by Russia’s Bright Capital Digital with existing investors – e.ventures (Hamburg), Passion Capital (London) and Project A (Berlin) – also participating “significantly.” Wine …
Russia’s Bright Capital leads investment round in German wine online retailer Read More
Just weeks after its launch on Jan. 10, an educational app named Znanija has broken into the top-100 downloaded free iOS apps in Russia and become third most popular in the nation’s educational category, according to the App Annie app ranking and intelligence company. The mobile app allows Russian users to access the Znanija.com social educational network, which boasts over …
The Republic of Tatarstan is confirming its commitment to innovation with plans to invest heavily over the next two years in the engineering and transport infrastructure of Innopolis, an “innovation city” under completion near the capital Kazan. Tatarstan will put up a significant part of the total investment, which has been estimated at 20 billion …
Tatarstan’s Innopolis to receive $670 million in investments Read More
Bright Capital Digital has injected $2.5 million into Auctionata, a German online auction site specializing in antiquarian items. The news was reported by Russian business daily Kommersant, based on an exchange last week with Bright Capital Investment Director Vadim Tarasov. Established in 2011, Auctionata claims to feature “the first live auction in the history of …
German auction site secures $2.5 million from Russia’s Bright Capital Read More
While venture funds are springing up in Moscow, one small fund in particular should not go unnoticed. Established just two months ago, Cloud4Auto focuses specifically on automotive technologies – a unique case in the world, the Chairman of the fund’s Supervisory Board, Innokenty Belotsky, told East West Digital News. “Cars are a very important part …
New seed fund helps startups “change the way cars are sold and serviced” Read More
Bright Capital, the international venture investment arm of Russian billionaire Mikhail Abyzov, has invested “from $3.5 million to $4 million” in exchange for a minority stake in Fotoshkola.net, RBC Daily reported earlier this week, citing unnamed sources in the venture industry. When contacted by East-West Digital News, however, Bright Capital declined to confirm the figure …
Bright Capital funds fotoshkola.net for international expansion 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
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
