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Facebook acquires Face.com; shareholder Yandex may get stake in US social giant

June 19, 2012

After weeks of rumors, Israeli face recognition startup Face.com officially announced yesterday its acquisition by Facebook. The exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, but two unnamed sources familiar with it told AllthingsD that the price was in the neighborhood of $60 million. The amount is significantly below the $100 million that had been rumored previously, but almost three …

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Odnoklassniki to launch English version

June 19, 2012

Odnoklassniki.ru, the second largest Russian-language social networking site, will soon be available in English. The decision was announced yesterday by Alexander Izryadnov, an executive at the Mail.ru Group, the LSE-listed Russian Internet group that is the site’s sole owner. “Odnoklassniki is used in 229 countries around the globe, the Pitcairn Islands being the sole exception,” …

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Ru-Net invests $17 million in Indian e-commerce

June 18, 2012

In yet another step in its international expansion, Ru-Net, a major Russian venture fund, has invested $17 million in Freecultr.com and BeStylish.com, two Indian e-commerce companies. The news on the investment in Freecultr – a website that offers its own apparels brands – was initially reported earlier this month by Iamwire, an online publication dedicated …

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Mail.ru Group CEO announces $25 million fund for robotics

June 18, 2012

Dmitry Grishin, the CEO of Mail.ru Group, the LSE-listed Russian Internet group, announced on Friday the launch of a New York City-based investment fund dedicated to robotics startups. The fund, named Grishin Robotics, intends to inject $25 million into 10 to 20 early stage or middle-size companies developing robots in the fields of home maintenance, education, …

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LinguaLeo raises $3 million, fulfills “American dream”

June 15, 2012

LinguaLeo, a Russian startup with a web service that teaches English using popular TV serials, books and contextual dialogues, has just secured $3 million from Runa Capital, a major Moscow-based venture fund. The site now serves 1.5 million registered users, of which 40,000 are paid subscribers, LinguaLeo founder Aynur Abdulnasyrov told East-West Digital News.

Superjob seeks minority shareholder “for successful IPO”

June 14, 2012

Morgan Stanley has been mandated by Superjob.ru, a leading online recruitment platform with 3.2 million unique users monthly, to find a potential acquirer of a minority stake, Russian business daily Kommersant reported yesterday. “We would offer a minority stake to a partner whose good name on the NASDAQ could help us go public successfully,” Kommersant …

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MTS set for digital move

June 13, 2012

Russia’s MTS will make digital TV services available across its entire network on July 1. Quoted in Vedomosti, Dimtri Bagdasaryan, director of the company’s fixed line and TV business, said that MTS expects to have 500,000 digital subscribers by the end of 2012 – it served a total of 2.99 million homes at the beginning …

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AFK Sistema lays out $15 million to buttress Omlet.ru as content startup rebrands

June 11, 2012

AFK Sistema, a Russian LSE-listed holding, announced last week that it has invested in Stream.ru, a paid video content portal formerly known as Omlet.ru. Stream.ru was launched in 2009 by MTS, a Sistema subsidiary and a leading Russian mobile operator. With a reported investment of 496 million rubles ($15 million), Sistema now owns 55% of …

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Yota stops activities in Bielorussia

June 11, 2012

Scartel, the leading Russian WiMAX and LTE operator operating under the Yota brand, stopped operations in Bielorussia yesterday, just six months after it launch in this country of almost 10 million inhabitants. Scartel had deployed 38 LTE base stations deployed in Minsk, the capital, and Grodno, a major city.

Physicians’ portal MirVracha secures $1.4 million from Japanese investors

June 8, 2012

MirVracha.ru, a major Internet portal for physicians and medical students, has completed its first round of financing, totaling $1.4 million. The round was led by Japanese fund UMJ Russia, which received a majority stake, with the participation of M3 Inc., a Japanese company offering innovative web solutions for medical professionals and the life sciences industry, …

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