This article was published on October 31, 2014

All the tech news you shouldn’t miss from Eastern Europe: October


All the tech news you shouldn’t miss from Eastern Europe: October

Another month has passed and brought scores of news and feature stories that are worth to be read by everyone who cares about what’s going on on the tech scene in Eastern Europe.

Check out all the most important headlines about funding, startups, VC funds and investors, governments interaction with the tech industry, and so on.

If you think that something is missing, or would like to draw our attention to an important story, feel free to ping me on Twitter (@shlema) or by e-mail at [email protected].

Startups, VCs and accelerators

  • Russian VC Life.SREDA has doubled down on fintech startups with new $100 million fund.
  • Slovenian VC fund has invested in five startups in five months.
  • Investment firm Mangrove Capital Partners has suspended its investment activities in Russia.
  • Ukrainian entrepreneur Alexander Olshansky, who recently went into politics, have opened together with his partners the country’s first military startup incubator.
  • Ukrainian VCs have invested in spying drones, energy analysis and “the art of dreaming.”
  • Hungarian startup TestJockey has won the Start Tel Aviv 2014 competition in Israel.
  • Ukrainian startups have taken all 19 awards at IDCEE 2014 conference in Kyiv
  • Russian Bookmate has launched an e-book subscription service on Android and iOS.
  • Ukrainian smart watch startup Klatz has launched an Indiegogo campaign, however its results  don’t look very promising so far.
  • Ukrainian Prometheus has launched the country’s first large-scale MOOC platform.
  • Thin Film Technology has received a grant of $1.9 million from Skolkovo foundation.
  • Ukrainian startup Petcube has delayed shipment of product again, hired new head of marketing.

Funding deals and M&A

  • Russian 3D software developer Vizerra has secured $5 million in funding from Leader, an asset management company affiliated with Vneshekonombank, Gazprom, and Gazfond.
  • Mobile sports application company 365Scores has raised $5.5 Million in a funding round led by Russian fund LETA Capital.
  • Russian Internet giant Yandex has acquired text recognition technology developer Parascript.
  • Russian startup AmazingHiring has attracted $500,000 from Ukrainian fund SMRK and Russian-Austrian angel investor Igor Ryabenkiy.
  • Russian e-commerce giant Ulmart has acquired satellite TV distributor No Limit Electronics allegedly valued at $200 to $300 million.
  • Czech-founded GoodData has announced a $25.7 million round of funding led by Intel Capital, with participation also from existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Tenaya Capital, TOTVS, Next World Capital, Windcrest, and Pharus Capital.
  • Russian venture fund and incubator Impulse VC has announced an investment of “up to $300,000″ in Moscow-based startup Contactless that is developing a home and industrial automation platform called the Wiren Board.
  • Russian car sales website AutoSpot has received $3 million investment from venture fund SOL Ventures, tech entrepreneur Sergey Gabestro and a number of previous investors.
  • Russian-funded software development and IT outsourcing company Luxoft has acquired Radius Inc., a U.S.- based solution provider focused on the Internet of Things.
  • Yandex has acquired PriceLabs and stopped cooperation with MultiShip, a startup that developed a solution to compare, combine and manage offers from different shipment service providers.
  • German media company Hubert Burba Media has announced an investment in Russian educational e-commerce site Bimbasket.
  • Moscow-based venture fund Flint Capital has invested $1 million in Appsee, an Israeli mobile analytics company.
  • Prom.ua, a major B2B and B2C marketplace owned by Poland’s Allegro Group, has acquired Ukrainian startup Zakupki-online.com that helps companies organize sales and purchases online without middlemen.
  • Moscow-based venture fund Guard Capital has bought 15% of DoktorNaRabote, a Russian social network for doctors, for $2.8 million.
  • Dutch online auction website Timerun has launched in Russia and attracted more than $20 million in funding.
  • Russian Gazprom-Media is about to acquire an 82.7% stake in WebMediaGroup, the owner of several Internet and e-commerce sites in Russia.
  • Russian Softline Seed Fund has invested about $190,000 in the Business Family online network in exchange for a 7% stake in the company.
  • Polish startup Brainly has raised $9 million to make a major push into the US with its social learning platform.
  • Ukrainian startup Kwambio has raised $500,000 in funding from an unnamed local investor.
  • Russia’s Leta Capital Venture Funds and Titanium Venture Capital have invested $1 million in social alarm clock app Wakie.
  • Bulgarian Telerik has been acquired by Progress Software for $262.5 million.
  • Russia’s Foundation for Internet Development Initiatives has invested just over $1 million in Intelligent Social Systems, the company behind project “Angry Citizen.”
  • Travel search company Skyscanner has acquired Budapest-based mobile app development company Distinction.
  • B2B software integrator Mirantis with R&D offices in Ukraine, Poland and Russia has raised $100 million in a Series B funding round.
  • Russian online car sales and valuation service CarPrice.ru has received $2 million in seed funding from Almaz Capital, Fastlane Ventures, e.ventures and a number of other Russian and foreign funds.
  • Russia’s Acumatica has raised over $13 million in a funding round led by Australian accounting software powerhouse MYOB.
  • Smart tagging company Thinglink has acquired Russia-based competitor Smartag and launched video tagging.
  • Estonian startup Digital Sputnik has raised $540,000 in funding to create a “new paradigm LED lights for motion picture and TV.”
  • Russian venture fund Maxfield Capital has invested $5 million in US-based nCrypted Cloud.

Governments

  • Hungary has canceled plans for a per-gigabyte “internet tax” on service providers, after thousands people protested against it.
  • Russian  telecom regulator Roskomnadzor wants Google, Facebook and Twitter to register.
  • Following a barrage of criticism, Russian president Vladimir Putin has ruled out Internet curbs despite cyber attacks.
  • The Russian Finance Ministry has proposed imposing fines of up to $25,000 for actions connected with the use or promotion of “substitute currencies,” including bitcoins.
  • Russian lawmakers have dropped the January 1 deadline for mandatory personal data storage on Russian servers.
  • Russian state telecom company Rostelecom has announced a $1.8 million tender for the development of a Russian VoIP service, much like that of Skype.
  • Russian government wants to fast track citizenship for foreign investors and entrepreneurs.
  • Polish town has built a $14,000 statue in honor of Wikipedia.

In other news

  • Nintendo has begun selling games as digital download codes through Yandex.Money.
  • Russia has got a virtual reality headset of its own dubbed Fibrum.
  • Non-profit Skolkovo Foundation in Russia has inked a memorandum of understanding with Tel Aviv University.
  • The first “bitcoin embassy” in the CIS has opened in Kyiv, Ukraine.
  • Russia’s nanotechnology giant Rusnano has become a partner in a new $200 million fund.
  • Yandex and Mail.ru Group are still among Russia’s fastest growing companies.
  • Yandex has announced third quarter 2014 financial results.
  • Russian software security giant Kaspersky Lab is set to open a development center in Jerusalem in 2015.
  • Messaging app Telegram created by VK.com founder Pavel Durov has launched a Korean version to cash in on privacy fears.
  • In October, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have arrived to most of the countries in Eastern Europe.
  • AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, Poland, plans to build one of the fastest computers in Europe.
  • Russia’s most popular social network VK.com is working on an app which will allow users to upload photos to the site, and to apply various filters to them along the lines of services such as Instagram.

Good reads from TNW and beyond

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