After holding top positions across the Russian energy industry for more than a decade, Oleg Dubnov has been heading Skolkovo’s energy cluster since 2017. He shared with East-West Digital News fresh insights about the emergence of green technologies in Russia, the related industrial challenges and the international potential of Russian startups in this field. So …
Sber, Russia’s state-controlled financial and tech giant, and its US partner 500 Startups announce the third batch of Sber500, their joint startup acceleration program. The closing date for entries is January 10, 2021. This batch is touted as a “powerful response to the current challenges and conditions that startups faced in 2020.” The program will …
Sber’s international accelerator launches third batch with support from 500 Startups Read More
Moscow Metro has partnered with VTB, a leading Russian financial institution, and Google to launch a new payment service. Users with the Google Pay payment service and a Mastercard card can now instantly pay for their metro ride: they just need to hold their smartphone above the reader at the turnstiles. In the near future, the new …
Russian online dating leader Mamba is investing some $3 million to develop its business in Germany and Italy, reported Kommersant, citing exchanges with company representatives. The company expects the average monthly revenue per user in these countries to be almost twice as high as in Russia, where it stands around 500 rubles ($6.7 at the …
Russian dating major Mamba invests $3 million to develop in Germany, Italy Read More
Today Russia is adding two new names from the online sector to its benchmark stock market index (‘MOEX index’) as technology firms lead a diversification drive on the stock market, long skewed towards the dominant commodities industries. In a symbolic shift away from commodities, Internet major Mail.ru Group – which is also listed on the London …
Tech sector drives diversification of Russian stock market Read More
This deal might look modest in amount, but it is a very rare case of a Russian acquisition in Germany in the field of IT. Softline, a Moscow-headquartered international solution and service provider, is taking control of the almost eponymous German IT company Softline AG. The Russian group has agreed to acquire 63.38% of the German company, which is listed …
IntellectoKids, a Russian-founded edtech startup, has raised a $3 million Series A round, reports VC.RU. The funding was provided by Allrise Capital (Silicon Valley), Vershina Capital (Moscow) and Quonota Investments (Cyprus), as well as Genesis Investments, a major Ukrainian investor which led a previous round just a year ago. Founded in 2016, IntellectoKids offers a media, entertainment and education platform …
IntellectoKids raises $3 million from US, Russian, Cypriot and Ukrainian funds 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 …
Russian businessman and philanthropist Ismail Akhmetov has invested in Hoversurf, a pioneer in autonomous flying vehicles. The amount of the deal was not disclosed, but company valuation was established at $30 million, the Russian media reported. Previous investors in the company include Qiwi co-founder Sergey Solonin, the Starta Ventures fund and several Russian individual investors. …
Hoversurf wants to make Russia a global leader in air mobility Read More
Only few Russian online retailers sell outside their home market and neighbouring Russian-speaking countries. One of them is market leader Wildberries, which has just started sales in Israel. Local customers can order products through an English language online store, as well as through mobile apps on iOS and Android, reports industry news site e-pepper.ru. The …
After Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine, Russian e-commerce leader launches sales in Israel Read More
Just days after its anti-covid digital solutions were awarded at a prestigious nationwide contest, the Moscow mayor’s office admitted that some 300,000 Moscow Covid-19 patients were affected by a huge data breach. The incident was revealed by online publication Readovka, according to which not only patients’ full names, but also their address details and Covid-related medical …
Moscow Covid-19 patients affected by huge data leak Read More
Today Ozon announced the completion of its IPO, which started triumphantly on Nov. 24. In total, 37,950,000 ordinary shares represented by American depositary shares (ADSs) were acquired by new investors, including those corresponding to purchase options exercised by underwriters. Taking into account the private placements and other subscriptions from Ozon’s existing shareholders, Baring Vostok and Sistema, the company …
