Page 19 - bne_Tech_03_2019

Investment
March 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 19
year, using innovative technologies," the company says on its website. Russia has enormous agricultural potential, but the weather makes growing fruit and vegetables difficult on most of the country's territory.
This agritech startup builds vertical farms, which “use a footprint of land more productively than traditional greenhouses.” It has also designed automated all-year-round greenhouses from
100 to 1000 sq.m. as well as growing trays “for growing greens and strawberry right in your restaurant or grocery.” iFarm’s first experimental projects were completed in 2017. The next year,
iFarm developed vertical farms to grow such short-term crops as strawberries, lettuce and herbs. Two such vertical farms of 500 sq. m. were developed with grocery stores.
This year, iFarm plans to launch a new 3,000 sq. m. project in Novosibirsk, a smaller one in Moscow (100-500 sq.m.), and to experiment its technology on the European market. It will also use the money raised in the recent round to develop further its technology and enlarge its team.
The company has offices or representatives in Novosibirsk, Moscow and Luxembourg.
Swedish investor VNV injected $8.5mn in Russia’s Busfor ticketing service in 2018 EWDN in Moscow
In December last year Vostok New Ventures (VNV), a major Swedish investment firm operating internationally, invested $4.5mn in online bus ticketing platform Busfor, in addition to the $4mn it had injected in the company in mid-2018, reports East-West Digital News (EWDN), citing VNV’s latest financial report and exchanges with Busfor’s founder Ilya Yekushevsky.
Busfor (previously known as Gillbus) aims to change what has been mostly a grey and offline market so far. Launched in Ukraine in 2010, the company is now headquartered in Poland. It operates in Belarus, Georgia, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Thailand, Tanzania, Rwanda, Iceland and several countries of the EU, according to its website.
The company claims to partner with more 700 bus transport companies, and hopes to sell more than 10mn tickets in 2019. According to Yekushevsky, the number of sold tickets already tripled in 2018.
The average ticket price amounts to $22, with Busfor getting a 15% fee on each sale, reported
Kommersant last year, citing company data.
The bus transportation market in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union amounts to some $9bn, with online ticket sales accounting for just 2%-5% in 2018. Busfor believes online sales will grow to some 30% by 2022, and aims to control a third of this volume.
Since its inception in Ukraine in 2010, Busfor
has received financial support from Intel Capital, InVenture Partners and FinSight in 2014, from Ukraine’s Chernovetskyi Investment Group (CIG) in 2015, then from Baring Vostok and Elbrus Capital in 2016. In November last year InVenture Partners sold its share to Baring Vostok and Elbrus Capital.
Previously known as Vostok Nafta Investment, VNV has been one of the most active international players on the Russian venture market. Its most brilliant investment decision was to bet on Avito. ru at the early stages. The Russian classifieds giant was fully acquired by Naspers at a $3.85bn valuation just weeks ago.