European Carpooling Site BlaBlaCar Rides Into Russia And Ukraine Via Acquisition

Jan 28, 2014 | Central & Eastern Europe, News

TechCrunch The carpooling race in Europe has yet to produce a definitive winner, as Germany’s Carpooling.com and France’s BlaBlaCar continue to go head-to-head. Today, the latter is making its next move: BlaBlaCar is riding into Russia and the Ukraine...

Vkontakte founder sells his stake while the social network sets new traffic record

Jan 27, 2014 | Central & Eastern Europe, News

Pavel Durov, the founder of VKontakte.ru (VK.com), Russia’s leading social network, has sold his 12% stake in the company to Ivan Tavrin, the general director of mobile operator Megafon and a member of the Mail.Ru Group‘s board of directors. In his post on...

Drive Raises $2.7 Million For Its Uber-Like Service In The Crowded French Market

Jan 10, 2014 | France, News

French startup Drive just raised $2.7 million (€2 million) in Series A funding from undisclosed business angels and institutional investors. The service is reminiscent of Chauffeur-privé or LeCab — it’s an Uber-like service that owns its cars and operates with fixed...

E-Commerce Business Lender iwoca Raises $8.2M To Expand In The UK And Europe

Jan 9, 2014 | News

Tech Crunch iwoca, which provides short-term loans to online retailers based in the UK, announced today that it has raised £5 million (about $8.2 million) from Global Founders Capital, a new private investment fund launched by the Samwer brothers of Rocket Internet...

After Arriving On Android, Glooko Lands $7M From Samsung

Jan 9, 2014 | News

TechCrunch The proliferation of connected devices, coupled with rapid advances in data analytics and sensor technology, has fundamentally changed the way people interact with and manage their health. Thanks to smartphones and a new generation of smart, wearable...

Oktogo.ru raises $5 million and switches to Travel.ru

Dec 24, 2013 | Central & Eastern Europe, News

East-West Digital News Competition in the saturated Russian online travel sector is fierce, and one of the main players last week took the dramatic step of a complete rebranding as it seeks to differentiate itself from its rivals. Skolkovo resident Oktogo, which was...