As of June 1, VimpelCom, a leading mobile operator in Russia under the Beeline brand, will begin testing their wireless payment system, developed by Ambiq Technologies, in the St. Petersburg subway system. The mobile phone add-on was unveiled two months ago by Ambiq Tech St. Petersburg, the Russian branch of American company Ambiq Technologies.
Professionali.ru, the second largest Russian professional social network after Yandex’s MoiKrug, announced it has raised $2.5 million from Open Capital, a London-based venture capital fund investing in Russia and other former Soviet states. The news has been reported by Unova, a Russian website specializing in local innovation and venture news.
Intel intends to close its R&D center in the Sistema-Sarov technopark in order to consolidate its offices in Nizhny Novgorod, Interfax reports. The decision was reportedly made in light of the considerable maintenance costs for an office with a relatively small staff, as well the need to optimize the company’s office structure and make its …
Sarov technopark: Nokia Siemens Networks becomes resident, Intel leaves Read More
Authorities in Kaluga region have started construction of an IT and biotechnologies technopark in the city of Obninsk, regional Governor Anataoly Artamonov told journalists. Under plans, by 2015 Kaluga region is to get $50 million from the federal budget on the technopark construction.
Presented as the brainchild of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) has appeared on the scene as a major element in Russia’s state sponsored innovation policy. Though making its fist public debut only three weeks ago, the project appears to have been duly prepared, as witnessed by the agency’s brand new …
Putin creates powerful innovation agency; Skolkovo could lose momentum Read More
Rostelecom Yug, the regional subsidiary of national telecommunications operator Rostelecom, will invest one billion rubles (approx. $35 million) to develop Sochi’s telecommunication infrastructure, the company announced. The funds will be used, in particular, to build an undersea fiber-optic cable in the Dzhubga-Sochi-Vesely area, to modernize power unit equipment, and to reinforce and digitalize the telecommunications …
Rostelecom to invest 1 billion rubles in Sochi’s telecommunications Read More
Travelmenu.ru, a site offering a suite of travel products including hotels, flights, and vacation packages, announced yesterday that it has raised $1.6 million in growth capital from Almaz Capital Partners and Runa Capital, two important venture capital firms in Russia. The funds will be used “to invest in a direct-to-consumer marketing campaign and build additional …
Former telecommunications minister and presidential counselor Leonid Reiman has created and personally invested in a fund called Alternative Capital Investment. Partners in the fund are a Cyprus-based subsidiary of VTB, a leading Russian bank controlled by the Russian state, and other unnamed investors.
AddVenture, one of the most dynamic Russian venture funds, has announced a new fund, AddVenture III. The fund has already raised $7 million “but since it is structured as a corporate vehicle, it could amount up to $50 million in the next two to three years,” Maxim Medvedev, one of the founders, told EWDN.
Yandex triumphantly started trading yesterday on NASDAQ, with its shares subscribed 17 times more than had been made available, reported Reuters from an unnamed source. After initially considering a $20 to $22 price range per share, the company defined its IPO pricing at $25 per share, but after trading started, the price surged to nearly …
Yandex shares oversubscribed 17 times, surge up to 60% over initial pricing Read More
Summary: The communications & media sector was one of the fastest growing areas of the Russian economy in 2010 and Q1 2011, with IT and hardware spending quickly rebounding after a sharp decline in 2009. Communications & media is also one of the most innovative sectors in the economy, quickly developing and adopting the latest …
Mergers & acquisitions in the Russian telecommunications & media sector Read More
An original event took place last week in Moscow: Positive Hack Days — an international forum on practical information-security issues that aimed to “unite hackers and information security companies so that they could understand how much they need each other.” In addition to roundtables and masterclasses on a wide range of information security issues, the …
Apple’s Safari forced by hackers at Moscow contest Read More
