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

Category: Internet

Global software, games and consumer electronics companies target Russia

By East-West Digital News / May 17, 2012

Digital River, a US-based software company, has just released a survey of 250 companies across Asia, Europe, North America and emerging countries – including Brazil and India – which operate in the software, gaming software and consumer electronics sectors and generate annual global revenues of $250 million or more.

Russia came out on top of the list of countries where such companies are seeking to expand internationally in the next two years. Russia was named by 31% of the respondents, followed by Brazil (24%), China (23%), India (22%), Japan (22%), Germany (21%) and the United Kingdom (16%).

Dating site Flirtic.com launches in Russia

By East-West Digital News / May 15, 2012

Flirtic.com, a dating and matchmaking site that began operating in early 2011, chose Russia as its first step to international expansion beyond its native Estonian market.

A beta version of the service is being launched this week to serve users in Moscow, but Flirtic.com has plans to cover St Petersburg, Kiev, and other Russian-speaking cities later this year, explained Andres Susi, the site’s Executive Director, in an exchange with East-West Digital News.

E-books now 5% of market, but pirates still dominate

Special to East-West Digital News by Oleg Kouzbit in partnership with Marchmont News / May 14, 2012

Russia’s e-book market has been growing at a robust CAGR of 120% over the past three years, swelling from 11 million rubles (just under $370,000) in 2008 to 135 million rubles ($4.5 million) in 2011, Russia’s Federal Press and Mass Communication Agency reports in its overview of the national book market’s progress and trends for this year.

According to the report, the top players in the market are LitRes and IMobilco, controlling an aggregate 74% of the domestic e-book trade. LitRes, the leader with a 54% market share, also boasts the majority ownership of copyright for distributing Russian-language books on the Russian-language Internet.

Fast Lane launches online commercial real estate service

By East-West Digital News / May 14, 2012

Fast Lane Ventures, the Moscow-based serial startup developer, has launched an online service called Kommerstate.ru to help commercial real estate market players lease, purchase and sell properties.

Started last week, the site is the first of its kind in Russia, according to Fast Lane, and is more than a property database: it “converts a user interested in a property into a real business lead.”

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.

Ozon CEO Maëlle Gavet: “We have internalized most of the delivery process to make it more cost-friendly and efficient”

Part of a Global Perspectives Series on Russian e-commerce offered by East-West Digital News / May 08, 2012

After six years with BCG in Russia, Europe and India, Maëlle Gavet joined Ozon.ru in early 2010 as Marketing and CRM Director. She was appointed CEO in 2011, a year that came as a tipping point for this major online retailer, with a $100 million round of financing in September and, by the year’s end, preparation for the acquisition of leading footwear retailer Sapato.ru.

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Pinterest.com considers Russian-language version – as local copycat reaches 250,000 members

By Adrien Henni, East-West Digital News / May 07, 2012

Pinterest.com, the much-hyped social network that defines itself as “an online pinboard,” announced last week its first steps in translating its service into other languages, starting with French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish. Pinterest is also pondering other languages, including Russian – which is mentioned between Malay and Swedish on the site’s second priority list.

Whereas the US startup was starting its crowdsourcing experiment, Pinme.ru, a Russian copycat, has announced impressive results just five months after launch: a monthly audience of 4.5 million unique users and 250,000 registered users.

Megafon and Yota consider merger

By East-West Digital News / May 03, 2012 / 1 Comment

Last week, the Russian business daily Vedomosti reported that the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) received a joint request from mobile operator Megafon and WiMAx operator Scartel, which operates under the Yota brand, to authorize a merger.

Head of FAS Igor Artemyev stated that the merger could be authorized under the condition that Scartel makes its LTE network under deployment available to all players without any discrimination.

Russian-speaking hackers lead global cybercrime

By Elena Mikhaylova, East-West Digital News / May 03, 2012

Group-IB, a leading Russian cybercrime investigation company, has just published its 2011 report on the “State and trends of the ‘Russian’ digital crime market.”

Russian-speaking hackers – both from Russia and abroad – generated more than one third of the global cybercrime value: they earned an estimated $4.5 billion out of a global “cybercrime market” which amounted to $12.5 billion in 2011. Cybercrime from Russia reached $2.3 billion, doubling from $1.2 billion in 2010, the report reveals.

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.

Category: Internet

Global software, games and consumer electronics companies target Russia

Dating site Flirtic.com launches in Russia

E-books now 5% of market, but pirates still dominate

Fast Lane launches online commercial real estate service

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

Ozon CEO Maëlle Gavet: “We have internalized most of the delivery process to make it more cost-friendly and efficient”

Pinterest.com considers Russian-language version – as local copycat reaches 250,000 members

Megafon and Yota consider merger

Russian-speaking hackers lead global cybercrime

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

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The Spring of Russian E-Commerce: An Exclusive Global Perspectives Series