The Spring of Russian E-commerce - An exclusive global perspectives series

Category: Private equity

Qualcomm could invest “hundreds of millions of dollars” in Russian tech companies

By East-West Digital News / May 15, 2012 / 1 Comment

Qualcomm, a leading US-based international provider of wireless technology and services – with a particular emphasis on chipsets for smartphones – is ready to invest “hundreds of millions of dollars” in Russian tech companies, Senior VP Anastassia Lauterbach told the Russian business daily Kommersant.

According to its strategic plan adopted in late 2011, Qualcomm will pursue four goals in Russia, said Lauterbach: help operators develop their networks; develop an ecosystem of Internet services; make the smartphone more accessible to the population; and invest in technology and science.

Rocket Internet receives $200 million from Russian-American billionaire Len Blavatnik

By East-West Digital News / May 11, 2012 / 1 Comment

Rocket Internet, the Samwer brothers’ famous Berlin incubator, has received a $200 million investment from Access Industries, a US based industrial holding owned by Russian-American billionaire Leonard Blavatnik. The news was reported earlier this week by Berlin-based tech blog VentureVillage.com, which cited unnamed industry sources.

The amount has placed Access Industries second behind Swedish investment company Kinnevik, VentureVillage.com notes. The latter spent a record €300 million on Rocket Internet and its portfolio companies in the last quarter alone.

Russian fund to invest €20 million in French startups as Russian-French tech ties grow

By East-West Digital News / May 09, 2012 / 1 Comment

The Russian high tech fund New Generation Investment (NGI) announced last week that it will launch a €20 million division dedicated to French startups, the French business daily Les Echos reported. “We are focusing on telecoms, web technolgies and tech-oriented media,” said NGI shareholder Leonid Reiman.

France will serve as a testing ground for one of NGI’s most ambitious projects – a VoIP and video conference service that would compete with Skype.

Avito.ru secures $75 million from Accel Partners and Baring Vostok

By East-West Digital News / May 02, 2012

Avito.ru, Russia’s leading classifieds site by brand awareness and number of users, announced today that it has received $75 million in new funding from Baring Vostok Private Equity Fund IV and Accel Partners as well as from existing investors Kinnevik and Northzone.

The valuation has not been disclosed, but Avito’s press service told East-West Digital News that it was “considerably higher” than the $158.73 million figure of last year, which was revealed in the latest annual report of Vostok Nafta, another shareholder of Avito.

Report: M&A in the Russian communications and media sector in 2011 and early 2012

By Vyacheslav Jaravine, KPMG / Apr 30, 2012 / 1 Comment

2011 was a rather disappointing year for M&A both globally and in Russia. Compared to the 6% decline in the value of global M&A deals, Russia’s M&A market experienced an even stronger reduction in value, by almost 28%. This is a sign of its continuing higher volatility, but also the result of fewer mega deals taking place than in previous years.

The top of the league table, as well as overall activity, is dominated by domestic activity, reflecting the current low appetite of foreign investors in relation to acquiring Russian assets.

Java application cloud-based hosting platform Jelastic completes $2 million round

By East-West Digital News / Apr 27, 2012 / 1 Comment

Earlier this week, the Ukrainian-Russian-American startup Jelastic, which offers a cloud-based hosting platform for Java application developers, announced it has secured an investment of $2 million from Almaz Capital Partners and Foresight Ventures.

This ‘Series A’ funding round brings the startup’s total financing to $2.5 million. In December 2010, Jelastic received seed funding from Runa Capital, a Moscow-based fund that operates internationally. Jelastic recently celebrated reaching the 15,000 unique users milestone only seven months after its beta launch.

Fast Lane Ventures secures $18 million in a round led by VTB Capital

By East-West Digital News / Apr 26, 2012

VTB Capital, the venture investment arm of leading Russian state-controlled financial group VTB Group, has led a $18 million investment round in Fast Lane Ventures, a Western style Internet investment company operating in Russia.

Investors from Fast Lane’s two previous rounds are also participating in the operation. They include eVenture Capital Partners and “some business angels and wealthy individuals,” said the company’s CEO Marina Treshchova in an exchange with East-West Digital News.

Evernote secures $100 million investment at $1 billion valuation

By East-West Digital News / Apr 23, 2012 / 1 Comment

Evernote, a California-headquatered company founded by a Russian-American team in 2007, has completed a $100 million round at a $1 billion valuation, Business Insider reported last Thursday from “multiple sources.”

The round was led by Meritech Capital Partners.

Megafon ownership shaken up, IPO planned for H2 2012

By East-West Digital News / Apr 23, 2012 / 1 Comment

Megafon, Russia’s second largest mobile operator, has borrowed $4.5 billion with the intention of buying back investor Mikhail Fridman’s 25.1% stake, Reuters reported last week. If successful, the purchase will bring MegaFon closer to a $4 billion IPO on the London Stock Exchange.

Megafon borrowed $1.5 billion from Sberbank, the Russian national savings bank, $1 billion from Gazprombank, and a syndicated loan of $2 billion from Western banks.

Milner takes part in Path’s $30 million investment round

By East-West Digital News / Apr 18, 2012 / 1 Comment

Yuri Milner, co-founder of the prominent Russian Internet fund DST, is among the investors in Path, the much-hyped ‘mobile-centric social network’ launched in 2010. The investment round, which amounts to at least $30 million, was led by venture firm Redpoint Ventures, CNet reported on Monday, with entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Mark Pincus and Jerry Murdock, as well as investment funds Kleiner Perkins, Allen & Co. and Greylock Partners.

Milner has invested in a number of US startups. Among his recent targets over the past year were iPad medical publisher DrChrono, video chat service Airtime, and Flotype, a startup that offers realtime messaging technologies for cloud and mobile applications.

Category: Private equity

Qualcomm could invest “hundreds of millions of dollars” in Russian tech companies

Rocket Internet receives $200 million from Russian-American billionaire Len Blavatnik

Russian fund to invest €20 million in French startups as Russian-French tech ties grow

Avito.ru secures $75 million from Accel Partners and Baring Vostok

Report: M&A in the Russian communications and media sector in 2011 and early 2012

Java application cloud-based hosting platform Jelastic completes $2 million round

Fast Lane Ventures secures $18 million in a round led by VTB Capital

Evernote secures $100 million investment at $1 billion valuation

Megafon ownership shaken up, IPO planned for H2 2012

Milner takes part in Path’s $30 million investment round

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