In yet another illustration of the internationalization of Russian venture capital, two funds with Russian roots, Impulse VC and Phystech Ventures, have invested in UK adtech startup Locomizer.
The seed round, which amounts to $300,000, may be followed by additional capital injections of up to $1.5 million by the end of this year.
This startup — which also has Russian roots — claims to “apply biological intelligence to branding.” Its technology of audience discovery and segmentation, called Affinity(BI), is inspired by Dr. Alexei Polyakov’s biological research into cell behavioral models.
Dr. Polyakov is a co-founder of Locomizer.
This technology is “revolutionizing personalized targeting” by “translating individual historic geo signals into user interest profiles,” which is “a new way to understand a user’s affinity to real world activities.” These can then be used for relevant targeting and recommendations to maximize marketing ROI, according to the startup.
Illustrating this capacity, a recent advertising campaign for Jameson Irish Whisky targeting new young adult audiences delivered superior results, exceeding the brand’s expectations.
“Locomizer is a good example of how the real world is being digitized and converted into big data, to create value-added products and services for their customers and end-users. This is just one of a few projects that bring a real ‘tech’ meaning to adtech,” said Impulse VC Managing Partner Kirill Belov.
Even though Locomizer is now focusing on winning in adtech space, this technology may be applied in a variety of areas beyond advertising and marketing, believes Phystech Ventures Managing Partner Olga Maslikhova.
“Locomizer has all of the capabilities to push its ‘data-as-a-service’ analytics platform across multiple verticals. The technology can be successfully applied in insurance, retail analytics (time-based promotions, competitive analysis, in-store shelf layout and finding suitable locations for new store openings), and e-commerce (powering product recommendation engines). The startup has already gained a foothold in EU, Japan and US markets,” Maslikhova said.
Venture capital firm Phystech Ventures was launched in 2013. Operating in Russia, the USA and South-East Asia, the fund focuses on IoT, connected platforms, cyber security, educational technologies, energy technologies, new materials, sensors, oil and gas, seeking technologies that are hard to replicate. Among Phystech Ventures’ backers are alumni of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT, or Phystech), one of the country’s leading graduate science universities.
Backed by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, Impulse VC launched in October 2013 with the goal of investing in diversified Internet markets. The entity includes a venture fund and an incubator.
