Moscow Times 4 May 2012
This week’s $75 million injection into classifieds advertising site Avito.ru is further proof of the investment attractiveness of Russian startups, which are a key element in the government’s push for diversifying the country’s energy-dependent economy.
But while innovative ventures are offering big opportunities, they are desperate for investors who are able to give not just cash but experience as well.
“It’s not a problem to find entrepreneurs or good honest people,” said Esther Dyson, an investor in the country’s
No. 1 search engine Yandex, where she also serves as nonexecutive director.
“The problem is finding the next group — entrepreneurs who were successful, sold and are now angel investors,” she said at a conference last week for the first-ever business angel week in Russia.
Business angels are investors who not only finance entrepreneurial projects at an early stage, risking their own money, but also support the project with their business experience and contacts.