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May, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 5
With an investment of “a couple of million dol- lars”, according to Tass, Babadu’s first inves- tor was Target Global, an international venture capital firm investing in fast-growing companies around the world. In 2014, the company received an additional RUB110mn worth of investments from Russia’s state Internet Initiatives Develop- ment Fund (IIDF), a venture capital fund estab- lished by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives at the suggestion of Vladimir Putin.
In January 2017, the company received an ad- ditional RUB200mn worth of investments from Bank St Petersburg. The money was used for the further development of the company’s technologi- cal platform, introduction of new products and enhancement of marketing operations.
“The children segment of online purchases is growing at a much faster pace than the market overall. Since 2013, Babadu has increased its revenue by more than 1000%, reaching more than RUB1bn,” Target Global’s managing partner Mikhail Lobanov said in an interview with Tass.
According to Lobanov, there are only about 50 stores in Russia with such high revenues. “The segment of children’s goods is one of the most stable ones in Russia. Even in 2014-2015 the company was growing steadily – people are simply not willing to save money at the expense of their children,” he added.
As far as online shopping in Russia is concerned, children’s retail is one of the most promising segments. “The decision to invest in Babadu
was made on the basis of the segment’s overall annual growth, both in Russia and worldwide,” deputy chairman of the board of Bank St Petersburg Vladimir Reutov said to Tass.
According to RBK, in 2016, Russia’s internet retail of children goods grew by 20% and amounted to RUB52.5bn. At the same time, there is still
a plenty of space for growth. “Internet sales of these products still make up only about 4-5% of the total turnover,” IIDF’s investment manager Pavel Nikonov said to Tass.
Napopravku
Founded in St Petersburg in 2013, Napopravku operates an online portal for selection of hospitals and doctors. It allows its clients to access a data- base of both private and public doctors and clinics across Russia. Doctors and medical institutions can use the platform to advertise their services. And, in turn, people that are in need of medical assistance can browse the database and chose
a particular medical professional based on their ratings by other users.
According to the company’s statement, in 2016, the service had more than 1mn users in St Pe- tersburg. The following year, the company ex- panded its operation to Moscow, Ekaterinburg, Kazan, Krasnodar, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk, Volgograd, Voronezh, Nizhniy Novgorod, Perm, Samara and Ufa.
In 2016, Russian venture capitalist Boris Zhilin invested RUB50mn in the company.