Page 23 - bne_October 2018_20181001

bne October 2018 Companies & Markets I 23
two-three weeks to one week, and in 18-24 months to up to three days.
Russian Post’s transformation from loss-making Soviet-era dinosaur to profitable company in the last few years has been remarkable. In 2012 the company was asking the state for large subsidies to build new logistic centres, but in the last few years the company has benefited from the boom in e-commerce, which is growing ten-times faster than the real economy and can now fund its modernisation from its own funds.
Russia's digital economy is booming, with the largest players developing ambitious marketplace and eco-systems projects, such as the joint venture between Sberbank and Yandex. Market, and another possible alliance of Chinese Alibaba with
Russian online entrepreneurs Oskar Hartmann and Igor Rybakov invest $750,000 in Australian car sharing platform
bne IntelliNews
Larix VC, a fund launched by Moscow-based business- men Oskar Hartmann and Igor Rybakov, has invested $750,000 in Australian car sharing platform Car Next Door, East-West Digital News reports.
The news was reported in August by online publication VC.ru based on exchanges with fund representatives.
Car Next Door defines itself as an online marketplace that pro- vides a booking system and “a range of in-vehicle technologies to make car-sharing safe.” Since its inception in 2012, the start- up has raised more than $11mn in total from various investors including Hyundai, MacquarieGroup, CallText Australia, and Hollard Insurance Company, according to Crunchbase.
Russian billionaire Igor Rybakov is the founder of TechnoNI- COL, a Russian giant in the field of construction materials. Oskar Hartmann, a German citizen born in Kazakhstan, has
Russia's second-largest bank VTB Bank. All these projects are increasingly relying on Russian Post for their logistical infra- structure.
Notably, VTB Bank is affiliated with the Russian Post through joint ownership of the Postal Bank. Analysts previously sug- gested that the joint venture with VTB could help the Chinese company to potentially dodge the levy on cross-border e-com- merce prepared by Russian government and allow Alibaba to benefit from Post of Russia infrastructure.
In 2017 the turnover of Russia's e-commerce reached RUB1.04 trillion ($18bn), growing by 13% year-on-year, according to the data by the Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT). The market is expected to reach RUB1.25 trillion in 2018.
www.carnextdoor.com.au
asserted himself as one of Russia’s best tech entrepreneurs since he launched flash sales site KupiVIP some 10 years ago.
Hartmann and Rybakov have teamed up in several projects, including the non-profit World Entrepreneurship Leadership Foundation.
Their joint VC fund Larix operates internationally from its offices in Moscow and Berlin, investing from $100,000 to $10mn at any stage in virtually any tech segment. Larix claims to ”close deals quickly” in an “entrepreneur-friendly” way, acquiring minority stakes of “not more than 35%.”
It has invested in around 10 startups so far, according to CrunchBase, including an initial investment in Car Next Door earlier this year.
www.bne.eu