🏔️Let the Arctic Games Begin
🏔️Let the Arctic Games Begin
Russia assumed chairmanship of the Arctic Council this week for the next two years, as the region has become a hot area of contention given its vast oil and gas resources, strategic shipping route and the global significance of its rapidly changing climate.
Rockford Weitz, director of the Maritime Studies program at The Fletcher School at Tufts University, called it “the newest emerging market in the world,” according to EuroNews.
This week’s high-level meeting in Iceland brought together Russia, the U.S. and even China as an observer, but it’s climate that’s dictating the agenda.
In fact the Arctic is warming at least twice as fast as the rest of the world. And a study published last year projects the region to be ice-free by 2050.
So far Russia's Arctic region, which stretches 24,140 kilometers (15,000 miles) along its coastline, makes up 10% of the country’s GDP and about 20% of exports.
As this Carnegie Endowment study pointed out, “rising temperatures would make those riches more accessible and ensure the Kremlin a steady source of revenues,” but the Arctic region is about more than that.
Russia is looking to transform it into a major Asia-Europe maritime corridor by 2035 as a part of its 2020 Arctic strategy.
Increasingly, the Arctic is at the heart of Russia’s environmental, demographic and technological challenges.
The Russian environment minister went so far as to predict Russia’s Arctic and Far North regions “could become arable in as soon as 20 to 30 years,” which would open huge portions of land to agriculture.
In December, local government and national business organizations held an online event calling out an “urgent need” for private and state investments in innovative startups “aimed at improving quality of life, manufacturing and ecological situation in the Arctic.”
Already, the Russian government is expanding its program to encourage eastward migration and small business growth in the region.
The timeline of expected climate change and feasibility of this support remain to be seen.
As one Russian scientist put it, “Global warming isn’t some ‘monotonous, gradual process, allowing for pineapples to grow in Siberia.’ It is a combination of two or three dozen different effects.”
The startups that will come up with innovative solutions to accurately predict this and help usher a new era of the region’s development could emerge as the true winners of the Arctic games.
What else am I watching this week?
Broniboy, an on-demand delivery service born in Krasnodar, raised over $1 million last week and already has plans to expand to Europe, starting with Amsterdam.
“We take exactly as much as we can digest,” the founder told Rusbase about their fundraising strategy. “Back in 2019, we studied European competitors, met the founders and even worked as couriers for them ourselves. I can say that Russian deliveries are many times steeper in terms of user experience.” Watch your back, UberEats!
This week I’m introducing a new section featuring NOTABLE DEALS involving Russian startups or Russian-speaking founders.
The goal of Russian Tech News remains the same: highlight interesting Russian tech trends and make them accessible to English-speaking investors and emerging market watchers anywhere in the world.
What did I miss? Daria@russiantechnews.com.
Daria
NOTABLE DEALS
> Cartwheel, on-demand delivery management software launched by Russian founders in 2020, raised a $1 million round, led by TenOneTen Ventures, with Act One Ventures and Portillo's participating. The company’s target clients are large restaurant chains with their own drivers.
[Source: Rusven]
> On-demand delivery service Broniboy raised $1.4 million (100m rubles) from investors including Krasnodarzernoprodukt, Yuzhnaya Torgovaya Kompaniya and its CEO Sergei Taran, at a valuation around 3bn rubles ($40m). The company, which operates in 6 cities and expects to generate close to 1bn rubles in turnover this year, has plans for European expansion and is considering a potential IPO in the next few years.
> Moscow-based Tochno, which connects property developers with craftsmen through a mobile app, raised $10 million in Series A from O1 Properties. By the end of 2021, the company plans to work on 10 construction sites in Moscow.
[Source: VC.ru]
> The Mashina, a car subscription service founded in 2020 and based in Moscow, raised $800,000 from investors including the Internet Initiatives Development Fund. The company has a model similar to Flux in the US and Drover in the UK - it rents cars to customers on a monthly basis, taking care of everything from maintenance to insurance (with plans to add a fuel subscription as well).
[Source: TAdviser]
> Moscow-based MoyDevice, a startup founded in 2020 that lets users rent e-scooters and other devices (from bikes to game consoles), raised $475,000 from investors including the Kontinuum Group. Funds will be used to scale in Russia and “test other markets.”
[Source: rb.ru]
> Abbyy, the intelligent document processing company founded in 1989 by entrepreneur David Yang while studying at MIPT, announced it has completed a “significant investment” by Marlin Equity Partners, a global technology-focused investment firm. It now operates in 14 countries with headquarters in Charlotte, NC.
[Source: Abbyy]
LATEST HEADLINES
SPACE
> Roscomos starts a side hustle, trademarks “technology tested in space.” The Russian space agency is planning to use this phrase to sell goods including “cosmetics, home goods, pharmaceuticals, electrical devices, undergarments, sports goods and games, transportation devices and other” applications, according to RIA Novosti. Earlier, Roscosmos’ chief cited “huge financial restraints,” pointing out “a big difference between the spending on the Soviet and Russian cosmonautics.”
IPO WATCH
> Russian tech company Softline considers IPO after annual turnover boost. Softline, a provider of IT solutions, has customers in 55 countries and works with international vendors, including Microsoft and Google.
[Source: Reuters]
SOCIAL MEDIA
> VKontakte plans to launch free video calls this summer for over 2,000 people. The social media platform has been gradually increasing capacity, most recently to 128 people in September.
[Source: Telecompaper]
> Instagram and Facebook may be obligated to open separate branches in Russia. Earlier, Russian authorities suggested they may ban foreign IT giants without local offices from working with new users, in a further crackdown on foreign social media companies.
[Source: TASS]
AGRITECH
> Skoltech researchers are using multispectral drone images to detect Sosnowsky hogweed, a type of hogweed widespread in Russia. They suggest this technology can be applied to other areas of farming.
[Source: Skoltech]
EVENTS
> The Russian ministry of science and higher education is allocating $1.4 million (100 mln rubles) to the development of university science communities, including events.
[Source: TASS]
> Startup Village 2021, Russia’s biggest startup conference, kicks off next week in Skolkovo from May 24-25. The theme this year is “Packing for Mars,” with Roscosmos, Google and others participating.
> Moscow is also hosting the Smart Cities Forum next week, which will include mayors from major Russian cities and European capitals. The agenda includes energy transition, cybersecurity and “green” technologies.
