Elbrus Capital, a leading private equity firm focusing on Russia and neighboring countries, has attracted $260 million to launch its third fund. As reported by business daily Kommersant, the firm aims to raise $600 million in total until the end 2022 for this new fund, which will focus on Russian digital companies. The first deals are …
Just days after Alexey Navalny’s arrest in the Moscow airport and the publication of his killer video on “Putin’s palace,” a digital rebellion is underway in Russia, involving millions of teenagers and elder users of social media. As of Jan. 21, the investigative video on the luxury mansion had broken all records, garnering more than 50 million …
Wildberries, the number one Russian e-commerce company, announced yesterday its launch in Germany in the latest stage of its international expansion. Through a localized interface, German online shoppers can access more than four million products — from fashion items, to electronic and household appliances, to books, to sports items, to cosmetics and more. The Russian company …
Russian e-commerce leader Wildberries launches in Germany Read More
While identifying FSB agents reportedly involved in Alexey Navalny’s Novichok poisoning, international investigation group Bellingcat revealed today how deep and worrying are the implications of Russia’s data black market. Bellingcat’s work on the Navalny case originated from a previous investigation into Russian chemical weapons projects. Call metadata were analyzed for the telephone numbers used by two executives of SC Signal, an entity “involved in the development of new variants …
Sber, Russia’s state-controlled financial and tech giant (previously known as Sberbank), is displaying its ambitions in the field of e-commerce, in spite of several previous unsuccessful attempts. Last week, Sber announced the creation of a dedicated division to run its existing assets in this field. Among these are Sberlogistika and Sbermarket, two services which where …
Sber displays its leadership ambition in the Russian e-commerce space Read More
Ozon, the leading multi-category e-commerce platform in Russia, filed today an amended version of the SEC registration statement for its NASDAQ IPO. The company will go public at a valuation of $4.6 billion to $5.6 billion, Financial Times reports from unnamed sources “familiar with the plans.” This is is more twice as high as the underwriters’ initial highest estimates, …
Amid strong investor demand, Ozon hopes to raise up to $1 billion in US IPO Read More
iHerb, one of the most successful international e-commerce companies in Russia, is planning to invest some $100 million in this country in the next two years. These investments are aimed to “improve the Russian customer services, support and expand product export by Russian manufacturers, [develop] partnerships with Russian logistics companies, expand in-house technology development center operations, and build …
US health and beauty online giant iHerb plans to invest $100 million in Russia Read More
Ozon, Russia’s leading multi-category e-commerce company, aims to go public later this year or in early 2021, the company announced Friday, and has started the registration procedure for an initial public offering (IPO) with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company did not provide any details on the potential placement but, according to …
Russian digital majors Ozon and ivi.ru plot US IPOs Read More
Yandex, the NASDAQ-listed Russian Internet giant, has agreed in principle with TCS group – controlled by Russian billionaire Oleg Tinkov – the acquisition of its online banking and financial services company Tinkoff. “The parties have come to an agreement in principle on a transaction that would consist of cash and share consideration worth approximately $5.48 …
After parting ways with Sberbank, Yandex plans to buy Russia’s leading online bank Read More
Just weeks after The Untitled announced plans to launch a new venture fund for Russia and Eastern Europe, Fort Ross Ventures, another Russia-connected VC firm, shared news about a similar initiative. Dubbed ‘Fort Ross Seed Fund,’ the new venture vehicle is the third fund managed by Fort Ross, following SBT Ventures I and II. It …
Fort Ross Ventures aims to invest $100 million across Russia and Eastern Europe Read More
Can you study in a top US, Chinese or European university when you have no money and lack family support? The answer is yes, as demonstrated by StudyFree, an online service that helps applicants increase their chances to get a scholarship and be admitted to educational institutions. Now claiming 23,000 users across the world, StudyFree …
Russian-born startup helps students make their international education dreams come true Read More
Major changes took place in late June on the Russian e-commerce and e-payment scenes. Yandex, the Russian Internet major, and Sberbank, the state-controlled financial and technology giant, announced an agreement “to reorganize their two joint ventures” – Yandex.Market and Yandex.Money. In plain language, this is a divorce. Yandex is to own entirely the e-commerce platform …
While divorcing with Sberbank, Yandex raises $1 billion to finance e-commerce projects Read More
