Venture / Private equity

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 …

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

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 …

Russian venture 2014 – The highlights Read More »

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 …

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

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 …

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

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 …

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

Phenomen Ventures takes part in €13.5 million funding round for German home-cleaning marketplace Helpling

1,135 Comments / Finance, International, Internet, News, Online classifieds, Startups, Venture / Private equity / By

Phenomen Ventures, a $300 million international venture fund launched last year by Russian businessman Dmitry Falkovich, has invested in Helpling, the online marketplace for household cleaners backed by Germany’s Rocket Internet. The deal is part of a Series A round of 13.5 million euros ($16.8 million), which has also involved Mangrove Capital, Point Nine Capital …

Phenomen Ventures takes part in €13.5 million funding round for German home-cleaning marketplace Helpling Read More »

Igor Ryabenkiy’s Altair fund attracts new partners to invest more in international startups

75 Comments / Finance, International, News, Startups, Venture / Private equity / By

Russian-Austrian startup investor Igor Ryabenkiy is attracting partners to his investment fund, Altair Capital Management, aiming to raise $20 million before the end of this year Two figures from the Russian venture scene, Igor Matsanyuk and Mikhail Vinchel, have already brought in a part of the funding via their own investment vehicles. Other LPs are expected …

Igor Ryabenkiy’s Altair fund attracts new partners to invest more in international startups Read More »

Life.SREDA invests in mobile bank Rocketbank

Banking technologies, Finance, Mobile commerce, Mobile content, Mobile-Telecom-Satellites, News, Payment & banking technologies, Startups, Venture / Private equity / By

Last week Life.SREDA, the venture arm of Russian finance group Life, announced its investment in mobile bank Rocketbank. The amount of the transaction has not been disclosed, but an unnamed source close to the deal told Russian tech blog Firrma.ru that the fund’s stake in Rocketbank does not exceed 10%. Life, which is made up of seven commercial banks across Russia, …

Life.SREDA invests in mobile bank Rocketbank Read More »

Russia’s SBT Venture Capital invests $5 million in Southeast Asian credit company

74 Comments / Banking technologies, Finance, International, News, Payment & banking technologies, Payments, Venture / Private equity / By

SBT Venture Capital, the venture arm of Russia’s national savings bank Sberbank, has invested $5 million in fintech service Advanced Merchant Payments (AMP). AMP’s platform allows banks to offer unsecured short-term loans to small businesses, using data analysis to decide whether to offer loans to businesses without a credit history. It was founded in 2009 …

Russia’s SBT Venture Capital invests $5 million in Southeast Asian credit company Read More »

Why Russia’s Imperious Group is investing millions of dollars in Ukrainian startups

74 Comments / Finance, International, Startups, Venture / Private equity / By

Launched in 2010 in Russia, Imperious Group began investing in Ukrainian startups last year. Regardless of the political tumult, the fund’s interest in this market was maintained this year to such an extent that has it has become one of the most active funds in Ukraine with more than $3 million invested so far. This year, Imperious …

Why Russia’s Imperious Group is investing millions of dollars in Ukrainian startups Read More »