Avito, the Russian Craigslist, raises huge $75m round
Investment continues to pour into the soaring Russian internet market, which recently overtook Germany as Europe’s largest by users.
The latest mega-deal sees Avito.ru, a Russian online classified site along the lines of Craigslist, raising $75m from local private equity firm Baring Vostok and global venture capitalists Accel Partners, alongside existing investors Kinnevik and Northzone. Read more
Russia’s Silicon Valley woos British investors
A delegation from Russia’s proposed ‘Silicon Valley’ development, Skolkovo, came to the UK this week in an effort to persuade UK businesses to invest in the high-tech hub being built on the outskirts of Moscow.
They faced awkward questions, however, about the political landscape that companies might face if they transferred operations to Russia. Denis MacShane, Labour MP for Rotherham, wrote to Lord Green, the trade minister, criticising the UK’s Department of Trade and Industry for hosting the conference, and pointing to the difficulties that many UK companies had faced in Russia. Read more
Facebook names alleged Koobface gang
Facebook has taken the unusual step of making public the names and personal details of five men it believes to be behind the Koobface computer worm that attacked hundreds of thousands of computers through the social network’s profiles.
The alleged gang appear to be living in St Petersburg and were tracked by Facebook and a team of researchers over three years. Read more
Elites disagree at London Cyber Conference
The two-day London Cyber Conference wrapped up Thursday with a remarkable lack of unity for such a carefully staged, invite-only event for world political and technology leaders. Read more
Last week saw the biggest venture-capital fundraising yet in Russia’s fast-growing e-commerce market.
But even with $100m in its coffers, how long can Ozon.ru – the “Amazon.com of Russia” – fend off Amazon itself? Russian idiosyncrasies in payments, deliveries and culture suggest that domestic online retailers such as KupiVIP, Molotok and Avito may be able to repel the foreign invaders looking to capture a share of what will soon become Europe’s largest internet market. Read more
Ozon positions for Russian e-commerce boom with $100m funding
Russia’s booming internet market has received another huge injection of growth funding. Ozon.ru, the largest Russian online retailer, has raised $100m in new venture-capital funding.
The investment in the self-styled “Russian Amazon” is the largest in the country’s e-commerce market after KupiVIP, a private buying club with big ambitions, raised $55m in April. Ozon’s round follows the stock-market debuts of Mail.ru and Yandex at eye-popping valuations. Read more
Ukraine: Zeus cyber gang brought in $40m
Ukraine authorities said on Tuesday that the 20 suspects, including 5 key targets they detained as part of a global crackdown on crime rings using the Zeus malware to steal from online bank accounts, brought a total of $40m into the country.
At a press conference covered by the FT’s Mark Rachkevych, officials from the Ukraine’s SBU confirmed that the alleged kingpins had been released, but said the five could expect to be charged this week.
Potentially among them are money laundering, interfering with computer transmissions, and distributing malicious programs. Prison terms for conviction on the second or third of those start at two years, while money laundering can fetch as many as 15. Read more
Microsoft suffers a black eye in Russia
Microsoft’s shareholders have applauded in recent years as it has fought a zealous campaign against software piracy. But it clearly should have tempered that zeal with much more circumspection.
General counsel Brad Smith was forced into a humiliating concession on Monday. Quoting a piece in The New York Times over the weekend, he said there had been reports that police in Russia have used the crackdown on piracy of Windows and other Microsoft software as a cover for human rights abuses, confiscating the computers of campaigners and journalists who have caused the government trouble. In some cases, according the the NYT, outside lawyers representing Microsoft were willing and eager participants in the actions. Read more
| About this blog | Blog guide |
Richard Waters has headed the FT's San Francisco bureau since 2002 and covers Google and Microsoft, among other things. A former New York bureau chief for the FT, he is intrigued by Silicon Valley's unique financial and business culture, and is looking forward to covering his second Tech Bust.
Chris Nuttall has been online and messing around with computers for more than 20 years and since 2004 has reported from the FT's San Francisco bureau on semiconductors, video games, consumer electronics and all things interwebby.
Maija Palmer has been writing about technology for the FT since 1999 and is fascinated by cybercrime, privacy and all the other issues of the information society. Based in London, she covers European tech companies and hopes that they won't all get acquired by American rivals.
Robin Kwong is the FT's technology, media and telecoms page editor in London. Formerly he was the Taipei correspondent and wrote about the companies that manufacture the vast majority of the world's computers and gadgets. He is interested in the intricacies of the technology supply chain and how China is increasingly changing the tech landscape.
Tim Bradshaw is the FT's digital media correspondent, and has just moved from London to join our team in San Francisco. He has covered start-ups such as Twitter and Spotify, as well as the online ambitions of more established media companies, such as the BBC iPlayer. He also covers the advertising, marketing and video-game industries. Tim has been writing about technology, business and finance since 2003.
