WebMediaGroup has sold a 30% stake in its online media projects to Russian venture fund Leader Innovations and Gazprombank, the company announced last week.
Sources close to the deal told EWDN that WebMediaGroup’s media projects are valued between $15 and $20 million.
Founded in 2007, WebMediaGroup includes Dostavka.ru, an important e-commerce site and Zoomby.ru, an aggregator of broadcast quality video content developed in partnership with a Russian state-owned TV channel. The group also includes a range of thematic consumer portals based on uban themes (Menu.ru, InOut.ru, Weekend.ru), personal finance (Bank.ru), health (Medsputnik.ru) and photography (Photosight.ru).
The better part of the funds will be used to develop the content base and strengthen the marketing of Zoomby.ru, which has positioned itself on the still nascent but fast-growing online video advertising market. The site will no doubt also benefit from Gazprom’s experience in this field, in particular from RuTube.ru, an other media asset of the company.
