Iskra Ventures Rus

History

Creation of a fund for investment in Russian startups

Global Investment Fund Iskra Ventures announced the launch of a new fund Iskra Ventures Rus to support Russian startups at an early stage of development. This became known on November 2, 2024. The size of the investment will vary from ₽6 million to ₽50 million, depending on the stage of the project.

According to ComNews, the fund has already closed the first deal, the details of which will be disclosed in November. Iskra Ventures Foundation partner Ivan Seasonov emphasizes the importance of careful team analysis and product development dynamics for three to six months before making investment decisions.

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Freepik

The new fund will support pre-seed projects that have the minimum viable product and confirmation of its demand in the market. Key investment areas include urban mobility, technology solutions, e-commerce ,/technology, VRAR video content and streaming services.

Dmitry Alexandrov, head of the analytical research department at IVA Partners, notes that small investment checks will cover many promising ideas from small teams with understandable monetization and calculated risks.

Analyst of the Finam financial group Leonid Delitsyn predicts an increase in the popularity of venture capital investment amid the rise of the domestic IT industry. Funds of this format are especially important for developments with deferred demand, which may appear in a few years.

Iskra Ventures Rus plans to carry out one or two transactions in the half year, evaluating potential projects according to three key criteria: product quality, market prospects and team competencies. The main goal is to achieve a tenfold increase in the valuation of invested companies.

Further plans of the fund include the creation of a new investment tool for follow-up investments in supported startups, which demonstrates a long-term development strategy in the Russian market.^[1]

Notes