Page 121 - RusRPTMar19

Gazprom-Media, Russia’s largest Russian media holding and a subsidiary of Gazprom, has led a $2mn funding round for Catery. This Moscow-based catering startup, launched in 2016, organizes deliveries to corporate clients. It operates in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Rostov-upon- Don and Nizhny Novgorod, based on partnerships with more than 500 restaurants. According to a Catery representative, cited by business daily Kommersant, the deal also involved “a pool of foreign investors, including Bill Franke.” Franke is the managing partner of Indigo Partners, a major US fund, which has invested in a range of airline companies across the world, including Avianova in Russia. Franke could not be reached to confirm the information, but Kommersant saw his name in official Russian and Cypriot company registries. According to this official information, Gazprom Media owns a 14.6% stake in the company, while Bill Franke has 3%. According to Catery, cited by Kommersant, the Russian catering market amounts to some $1.2bn per year. In 2017, reports Kommersant, Gazprom Media invested 20mn rubles (around $300,000) in food delivery startup Instamart in a media-for-equity deal.
Moscow-based grocery delivery service Golama has attracted RUB150mn ($2.3mn) in equity funding from an unnamed individual investor, according to media reports, reports East-West Digital News (EWDN). The funding will be spent on expanding Golama’s network of partners, which include retail chains and stores, and its goods and services offer. Golama told Russian online tech resource Rusbase that the round was completed in January, with the first funding received in November last year. Rusbase also heard from an unnamed “source close to the deal” that Golama’s valuation amounted to 750mn rubles (around $11.5mn). One hundredmn rubles (around $1.5mn) had been invested in the startup at the launch phase, in March 2018, Golama told Rusbase. The startup claims that more than 250,000 users have downloaded the app so far, and that the number of orders grows “by 20%- 30%” every month. Golama partners with such chains as METRO, Lenta and Vkusvill. It operates in Moscow and and surrounding cities Balashikha, Dolgoprudny, Mytishchi, Reutov and Khimki.
Major Russian mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has launched a platform dealing with second-hand IT and telecom equipment, torg.mts.ru, which works like an auction, business daily Vedomosti reported on Tuesday, quoting MTS spokesman Alexei Merkutov. Floor tests started a year ago and the system was free, now MTS starts charging a commission from sellers, Merkutov said without disclosing its size. Clients can subscribe to the floor paying 7,000 rubles per month and sell up to 200 items. A seller can hire a personal manager for 50,000 rubles, Merkutov said. MTS specialists can help set the initial price of goods, which can fall or rise during trading, he said. Vice President Vyacheslav Nikolayev said a year ago that new services brought MTS up to 20% of revenue.
Russian software engineering company Luxoft reported weak 3Q19 results on February 12, but broadly in line with the lower end of management’s guidance. Founded in Russia by IBS IT Services, Luxoft was a spin off from the main company and concentrates mainly on the international markets. “The main trends among verticals remained unchanged and were in line with expectations. We believe that the main pressure on the Luxoft top line and margin was due to the weak performance of the Financial Services Vertical. We note that Luxoft's results are largely irrelevant, as the company is being acquired by DXC Technology for $59 per share, with the deal likely to be closed by June 2019. We have a Hold recommendation on
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