On Tuesday the Bank of Russia released a consultation paper on the development of the digital Russian ruble, confirming plans aired previously. Dubbed ‘central bank digital currency,’ or CBDC, the digital ruble could become an additional form of money alongside cash and non-cash. “All three forms of the Russian ruble will be absolutely equal: 1 ruble in …
Russia’s central bank considers launching digital ruble Read More
Moscow startup Briskly has raised $2 million to finance its first international projects and strengthen its positions in Russia. Sberbank executive Maxim Poletaev and Gauss Ventures, a Cayman-based fund with Russian connections, are among the investors alongside an unnamed British venture fund and another private investor. Poletaev and Gauss Ventures already put $370,000 in the …
The transparent part of this mask covers the entire face, protecting both the respiratory system and the eyes from the virus. This way users can see each other’s faces in full, along with all the expressions that are an integral part of normal conversation that were taken for granted prior to the pandemic. Oxima’s creator, Denis Medvedev, is …
Russian startup entrepreneur creates new mask against Covid-19 Read More
Alphaopen, a Moscow-based developer of IoT solutions for smart construction, will receive up to 260 million ruble ($3.4 million) from two major corporate funds: Orbita Capital, the venture arm of state corporation Rosatom, and Veb Ventures (formerly VEB Innovations), which is backed by state development agency VEB.RF (Vnesheconombank). The startup will receive a first tranche of 130 million rubles, the second …
Smart city solution developer to receive up to $3.4 million from major corporate funds Read More
Yandex, the NASDAQ-listed Russian Internet giant, is acquiring K50. According to businesss daily Kommersant, this is a full acquisition and an exit for the company’s shareholders, which include the venture fund AddVenture Capital and the management. As a result of the deal, K50 will be able to scale up its business while Yandex advertisers will use …
Sberbank — the state-controlled giant which recently unveiled a suite of new technology products and dropped the word ‘bank’ from its corporate branding — is compiling a database of Russian citizens’ biometric information. Little is known about how the project is progressing, but online publication The Bell believes it could potentially concern some 100 million users of …
Open Innovations, one of Russia’s largest events dedicated to technology and related business, policy and other topics, will be held online this year from October 19 till October 21. The key topic of the forum will be the post-COVID world order: how our understanding of technological priorities has been transformed under the influence of an external threat, can …
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
My.Games Venture Capital (MGVC), an investment firm affiliated to LSE-listed Mail.ru Group, has just acquired a majority stake in Russian game publisher Deus Craft, reports Rusbase. MGVC intends to put up to $49.1 million to acquire 51.16% of the company, including an immediate payment of $14.1 million and potential additional payments totalling $35 million, depending on the …
Mail.Ru buying spree: My.Games invests in 3 game studios in 3 weeks Read More
Lanit-Integration (part of the Lanit group) and Intel have developed and implemented a system for remote coordination and protection of medical workers in 39 clinics across Russia (as of August 2020). The technology — initially intended for industrial purposes — is based on ergonomic ‘smart glasses’ equipped with a video camera and a compact screen. …
Intel-backed telemedicine service protects Russian medical workers from Covid-19 Read More
Russian sovereign wealth fund RDIF, China’s Tencent and Prosus (part of the Naspers Group), alongside other major strategic investors, have participated in Mail.Ru’s $600 million offering of global depository receipts (GDRs) and convertible bonds. The LSE-listed company will use the proceeds from the offering to develop, in particular, two joint ventures: O2O, which Mail.Ru launched …
Naspers, Tencent and RDIF buy Mail.Ru’s GDRs and bonds 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
