First Data

History

2024: Rostelecom bought 37.5% of First Data

Rostelecom acquired a 37.5% stake in the authorized capital of First Data, a developer of solutions for personalizing customer communications and online advertising, with the possibility of increasing the share to 75%. This became known on December 23, 2024.

According to Rostelecom, as part of the deal, the Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF), which owned 16.67% of the business, is withdrawing from the company's capital. Companies will jointly develop innovative services for personalizing B2C communications based on artificial intelligence technologies.

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Фото: Unsplash

Dmitry Reidman, Director of Rostelecom's Digital Business Development Department, emphasizes the importance of investing in First Data for the development of digital services in the field of omnichannel retail and e-commerce.

First Data specializes in processing purchase data and building predictive models to set up targeted communication with prospects. The company provides tools for interaction through various platforms, including Yandex and VK.

Alexander Starostin, CEO and co-founder of First Data, notes that in seven years the company has become one of the key players in the advertising technology market. The company plans to expand the database of impersonal data and introduce new opportunities for interaction with Rostelecom clients.

IIDF Investment Director Maxim Steigerwald notes the success of the fund's withdrawal from the project with high returns, especially in conditions when most large companies in Russia prefer to create IT products on their own.

First Data helps B2C companies find their target audience online, using AI algorithms to analyze impersonal purchase data. The company's key clients are large and medium-sized enterprises in the retail, e-commerce, FMCG and pharmaceutical industries.

The partnership is aimed at creating innovative tools and rapidly scaling the business on a federal scale, which is in line with Rostelecom's strategy for the development of digital services.^[1]

Notes