Finance

CTC Media acquires online video content provider CarambaTV

2,073 Comments / Digital Content, Finance, Internet, M&A, News / By

CTC Media, a major Russian media company, yesterday announced the acquisition of a majority stake in CarambaTV, a producer of digital and transmedia content. CTC Media acquired a 51% stake for 148 million rubles (approximately $2.2 million at the current exchange rate). The transaction included the Carambatv.ru and +100500 websites, which together attract over 2 million unique visitors each …

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Croice secures $500,000 from Imperious Group to develop “new format of photo stories”

76 Comments / Finance, Mobile content, Mobile-Telecom-Satellites, News, Regions & cities, Social networks & apps, St Petersburg, Startups, Venture / Private equity / By

Last week Croice, whose mobile app allows you to create photo stories with a background audio, announced its first round of financing with $500,000 brought in by venture fund Imperious Group. Launched earlier this year by Russian entrepreneur Vadim Zhernov, the St. Petersburg-based startup presents its app as “a new media format.” The photo stories, named …

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Russian venture 2014 – The highlights

2,123 Comments / Analysis, Finance, Venture / Private equity / By

As a busy year draws to a close, RusBase has asked 10 Russian venture capitalists what they think were the most important events of 2014. Andrey Romanenko, Run Capital: “Considering that Run Capital was only founded in April, we think this year was a successful one. The most important event for us was our $6 million investment in …

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Mail.Ru Group, QIWI, Yandex stocks plummet as only Luxoft stands tall on Western exchanges

67 Comments / Analysis, Capital markets, Finance, International, Internet / By

Several key Russian tech companies are listed on Western stock exchanges. Among them are software development and service company Luxoft (NASDAQ: LXFT); Mail.ru Group (LSE: MAIL), the owner of Russia’s leading social network Vkontakte and of a range of other Internet properties; mobile operator MegaFon (LSE: MFON); payment operator QIWI (NASDAQ: QIWI); and Yandex (NASDAQ: …

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Virtual shoe-fitter wins 15 million ruble grant from Skolkovo

303 Comments / E-Commerce, Finance, Internet, News, R&D, Regions & cities, Skolkovo, Startups / By

A tech startup that is looking to make those hellish trips to the shoe store a thing of the past has won a grant of 15 million rubles (approximately $275,000 at the current exchange rate) from Skolkovo Foundation. Fitanny’s virtual shoe fitter compares your foot structure to the type of shoe you’re interested in, and then …

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State fund FRII teams up with mobile operator Yota to support startups

3 Comments / Finance, Mobile-Telecom-Satellites, News, Operators, Startups, Venture / Private equity / By

Russian mobile operator Yota has become a partner of FRII, the $200 million government-backed fund launched last year to support Russian Internet startups. The company will invest in the fund’s startups, and may also look at acquiring some projects. Startups will also benefit from the company’s support through assistance with infrastructure and the use of Yota’s resources in …

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CPA giant CityAds Media acquires Tinkoff Digital’s mobile advertising platform Madnet

E-marketing & advertising, Finance, Internet, M&A, News / By

Last week, CityAds Media, a Moscow-based international performance advertising platform, announced the acquisition of Madnet. This mobile advertising platform had been launched last year by Tinkoff Digital, а Russian developer of innovative Internet and mobile advertising technologies, as “the first real-time bidding (RTB) platform in Russia for mobile devices.” Madnet has developed its own DSP, …

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Sberbank’s SBT Venture Capital invests in social network for investors

361 Comments / Finance, International, Internet, News, Social networks & apps, Venture / Private equity / By

SBT Venture Capital, the venture arm of Russia’s national savings bank Sberbank, has invested in eToro, a social network for investors. The Cyprus based social network allows members to follow the activities of their fellow investors in real time. The company’s stated mission is to “revolutionize the way people interact on the financial markets, making the …

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Yandex acquires e-commerce recommendation service, Runa Capital celebrates first Russian exit

5 Comments / Finance, Internet, M&A, News, Search engines & SEO, Software / By

Yandex, the Russian search giant, has acquired a browser application developed by Metabar, a portfolio company of Runa Capital. The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed, but Runa reported that it “provided a multiple return on investment.” Christened “Sovetnik” (Russian for “advisor”), this browser extension helps users find the best offer for …

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Web server publisher Nginx raises $20 million from US fund NEA

217 Comments / Finance, International, Internet, IT services, News, Venture / Private equity / By

Nginx (pronounced “engine-x”), a US-based open source web server publisher with Russian origins, has secured $20 million in a Series B1 round of financing from New Enterprise Associates (NEA). German-American fund e.ventures, Moscow-based Runa Capital, Index Ventures and Nginx CEO Gus Robertson also took part in the round, the company announced. Funding will be used for …

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