Dymka the cat from Russia’s Siberian city of Novosibirsk tragically got all four paws and tail frostbitten and was rushed to a veterinarian clinic. Doctors knew they had to amputate all the damaged limbs – and usually stray animals are put down in such circumstances. However, local vet Sergei Gorshkov is not one to give …
[Updated Jan. 21] Rostelecom, the national telecom operator, is in the process of acquiring 31% of FRII Invest, the investment vehicle of the Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF, or FRII in Russian). This is Russia’s biggest fund for early-stage startups, launched in 2013 as an instrument to support the emergence of a strong startup industry in Russia. Rostelecom’s is …
State-controlled corporation backs Russia’s leading startup investment fund Read More
The 13th edition of Midemlab, the leading international music startup competition, will take place on June 2-5, 2020 in Cannes, France, in partnership with East-West Digital News. This year, Midemlab launches a brand new “Music Live Experiences” category that will spotlight the most innovative solutions around Live Music for bands, fans, venues, producers, promoters and more. …
Midemlab 2020: A call to Eastern European music startups (application deadline: Feb. 29) Read More
Crunchbase and East-West Digital News are teaming up to cover key tech and venture trends in Eastern Europe. Since January 2019, EWDN chief editor Adrien Henni has offered a regular column to highlight the most notable industry facts and trends as well as promising tech innovations from this region. This full-year 2019 review lists the most important investment and …
Avito, the Russian online classifieds giant – which Naspers acquired in 2015-2019 for nearly $3 billion – has purchased a controlling stake (51%) in Russian software publisher MaxPoster. Operating from its Moscow and St. Petersburg offices, this company provides software solutions to estimate the value of used cars, manage classifieds to sell the cars, and …
Avito acquires controlling stake in used car software publisher Read More
Yandex, the Russian NASDAQ-listed Internet giant, is planning to launch its car-sharing service in Europe, the Financial Times has reported. The head of Yandex.Drive, the company’s car-sharing division, Anton Ryazanov, told the paper it would roll-out the service with a 1,000-strong fleet of electric cars later this year. Yandex has not yet decided which city it …
Yesterday a Moscow court prolonged the house arrest of US citizen Michael Calvey, French Philippe Delpal and other Baring Vostok executives for another month, until February 13. As reported by the TASS news agency, the investigation into the case is completed. All the defendants are charged with “embezzlement committed by an organized group or on …
Russian court extends house arrest of Michael Calvey and other Baring Vostok executives Read More
Veeam Software, a global leader in cloud data management software, is to be acquired by top software investor Insight Partners. The deal, which values Veeam at “approximately $5 billion,” is expected to be closed in March. “Veeam has enjoyed rapid global growth over the last decade and we see tremendous opportunity for future growth, particularly …
Russian-founded Veeam Software sold for $5 billion to major US investor Read More
Private banks and credit cards appeared in Russia relatively recently – in the early 1990s after the collapse of the USSR. The local banking system developed from scratch, and didn’t have to depend on old software solutions, thus avoiding many of the intermediate development stages that more advanced economies had to go through. As a …
10 Russian online banking features that you probably don’t have Read More
It’s been two months since Russia passed the sovereign internet law giving it the right to cut Russia from the rest of the online world. Not much has changed, despite fears that the new legislation would usher in an era of strict control. Experts say the Russian legal and administrative systems contains enough loopholes and …
Will Russia enforce its new Internet laws in 2020? Read More
The Russian chatbot market is set to increase three-fold in 2020, reaching or exceeding 4 billion rubles (around $65 million at the current exchange rate), says a report by industry association Neuronet. This market already grew three-fold this year to around 1.5 billion rubles ($24 million). While banks, financial and insurance companies were initially the main …
Russian chatbot market takes off, banks and retailers among early adopters Read More
In mid-December Severstal Ventures, an investment vehicle created last year by the Russian steel and mining giant Severstal, announced an investment in US company Modumetal. The corporate fund has got a minority stake along with existing shareholders Vulcan Ventures, BP Ventures, Founders Fund, Steel Dynamics, ConocoPhillips, Chevron Technology Ventures and others. Based in Seattle, Modumetal claims …
