East-West Digital News

Russian retail giant X5 uses advanced speech technologies to automate call centers

October 2, 2020 October 2, 2020

X5 Retail Group, a leading Russian food retailer, is deploying a robotic telephone platform based on advanced speech technologies. Used to handle incoming calls and make outgoing calls without human intervention, the group’s new voice assistants simulate dialogue with customers and help resolve their issues. “After the caller formulates a question, the bot uses complex machine learning algorithms and accumulated data to identify the …

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Tinkoff, VTB and Sberbank top Russian bank digitalization ranking

September 30, 2020 September 30, 2020

The Skolkovo Foundation and VR_Bank have evaluated the digitalization level of the top 50 Russian banks in the first half of 2020. Tinkoff Bank – which has just agreed an acquisition deal with Yandex – became the leader and moved up one place compared to 2019. It is followed by state-controlled bank VTB, which moved …

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Russian and Emirati sovereign wealth funds invest $13 million in sensitive face recognition technology

September 29, 2020 September 29, 2020

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, has teamed up with its Emirati peer Mubadala to invest “more than 1 billion rubles” (approximately $13 million at the current exchange rate) in Russian face recognition startup NtechLab. Touting itself as “the global leader in computer vision systems based on artificial intelligence and neural networks,” NtechLab provides solutions …

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Russia and Gulf countries intensify cooperation in high tech

September 29, 2020 September 29, 2020

A series of news in the past few days came to underline the intensifying relationship between Russia and Gulf countries in the fields of technologies and investment. Mubadala eyes Russian technologies Thus last week Sberbank, the state-controlled Russian financial and tech giant (now known as Sber), announced a “strategic agreement” with Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala), an Abu Dhabi-based sovereign …

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From Moscow to Berlin, digital music startups attract top investors

September 28, 2020 September 28, 2020

As the global digital music market pursues solid growth, last week saw three deals involving companies from Russia or with Russian founders. Sberbank acquires Zvooq Just a day before touting its transformation into a tech “universe,” Sber announced the acquisition of Zvooq, one of the most established Russian music platforms. No details about the transaction were disclosed. Founded in 2010 by UK …

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Deliver, the European rendez-vous for logistics (online event, Oct. 8-9)

September 25, 2020 September 25, 2020

‘Deliver,’ a major international event on e-commerce and logistics, will take place this year in a fully online format, attratcing participants from all parts of the world. An unprecedented league of 600 decision-makers in retail and logistics will participate. This year, 12 different themes will be addressed during the four Retail Leaders Masterclasses: Automation, Omnichannel, Sustainability, Resilience, Community, Business Model, Customer …

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Russian e-commerce leader Wildberries launches in Ukraine

September 24, 2020 September 24, 2020

On September 21 Wildberries, the number one retailer in Russia, launched sales in Ukraine. Customers can order goods with free delivery in the wildberries.ua online store as well as through the iOS mobile application. An Android app will be launched shortly. In addition to Russia and Ukraine, the company operates commercially in six countries: Belarus, …

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After parting ways with Sberbank, Yandex plans to buy Russia’s leading online bank

September 23, 2020 September 24, 2020

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 …

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My.Games invests in Russian-founded studio Hypemasters

September 22, 2020 September 22, 2020

My.Games Venture Capital (MGVC), an investment firm affiliated to Mail.ru Group, and Aii Corporation, a Finnish VC firm, have teamed up to invest in a US-headquartered mobile games studio called Hypemasters. “Under the new partnership, MGVC will provide marketing, HR, operations, and financial support to Hypemasters to drive the development of current and future titles,” …

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Average order value on AliExpress Russia doubles in 2020

September 21, 2020 September 23, 2020

AliExpress Russia and Tinkoff Oplata, a merchant acquiring service, took a close look at online orders made through the platform in Russia in 2019–2020. The study is based on the analysis of transaction data from 6.5 million Russian bank cards processed by Tinkoff Payment as well as AliExpress customer data. During the first eight months of …

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The rise of Russia’s giant digital ecosystems

September 18, 2020 September 21, 2020

Over the past few years, large ecosystems emerged around Mail.ru Group, Sberbank and Yandex, with both competition and cooperation intensifying between them. ICT.Moscow, a media initiative from the Moscow government, has analyzed the variety of services provided by the three companies and the underlying business logic. It has compiled industry news from November 2019 to August 2020, aiming …

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Fort Ross Ventures aims to invest $100 million across Russia and Eastern Europe

September 17, 2020 September 18, 2020

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 …

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