Pointer, Moscow

Point is a developer of a service for working with data on geoservices and consumer feedback.

Pointer is a Russian service for automating address data and reviews in geoservices, search engines and social networks. The service is based on its own neural network, it is responsible for determining the tone and auto-response to reviews. By September 2021, Pointer processes and updates information on more than 30 platforms, and the system users include more than 200 brands with over 80 thousand branches.

History

2024

IIDF became the owner of 10% of Pointer

The Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF) received 10% in the geo-movement service of Pointer LLC as a result of a transaction to buy out the company from its founders. The completion of the transaction worth ₽200 million was announced on November 22, 2024.

According to RB.RU, the IIDF allocated a loan to its portfolio company DocsInBox, which acquired 100% of Point from the founders Artem Efremov, Olga Bolotova and Maria Niggol on October 11, 2024.

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Freepik

The representative of the Internet Initiatives Development Fund noted that both companies are showing dynamic growth and have high dividend potential, and DocsInBox will be able to apply its experience to scale the business of the acquired company.

The Point service, founded in 2019, specializes in maintaining up-to-date data from companies in geoservices and automating feedback work. The company's revenue in 2023 reached ₽166,2 million, an increase of 1.5 times, with a net profit of ₽39,8 million.

According to the publication, DocsInBox, which automates document management between restaurants and suppliers, showed revenue growth of 1.7 times to ₽683 million in 2023. The company's net profit amounted to ₽285 million.

In June 2024, DocsInBox acquired 10.8% in Pointer from the ISLA fund. After the October transaction, the company became the owner of 100% of the service, but on November 22, 2024 transferred 10% to the IIDF as part of the loan agreements.

IIDF, Russia's largest venture capital fund for IT startups, manages a capital of ₽6 billion (by November 2024). The fund's portfolio includes companies such as Pravo tech, Brandquad, Aimoto and Ubic.^[1]

DocsInBox increased its stake in Point from 10.83% to 100% for 150-250 million rubles thanks to IIDF investments

On October 4, 2024, the document management service for restaurants DocsInBox closed the deal for the purchase of the Pointer company, which specializes in local marketing and geo-movement. The value of the asset is estimated at 150-250 million. rubles

According to Forbes, referring to the information received from the participants in the transaction, DocsInBox attracted investments from the Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF) to implement it. As part of the transaction, Doxinbox LLC increased its stake in Pointer LLC from 10.83% to 100%. Artem Efremov (44.59%), Olga Bolotova and Maria Niggol (both 22.29% each) sold their packages. Point will operate as an independent company as part of DocsInBox. Evgeny Lebedev, who holds the post of head of business development at DocsInBox, has been appointed general director.

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Freepik

The transaction was implemented in line with the IIDF dividend investment strategy. Both DocsInBox and Point are growing dynamically and have good dividend and synergistic potential, and DocsInBox demonstrates the ability to scale well and will be able to apply its experience to scale the business of the acquired company, - said representatives of the IIDF.

Dmitry Kozlov, founder and managing partner of the investment and technological boutique The12 Capital, notes that the acquisition of DocsInBox can bring a "significant synergistic effect" thanks to the vertical integration of Point functionality into existing products. In the future, according to the expert, a new analytical tool for the restaurant business may appear: traffic forecasting to optimize supplies to establishments, work with staff, etc. Ultimately, this will strengthen DocsInBox's competitive position in the restaurant software market.^[2]

DocsInBox bought a stake in the Point geomarketing platform

On June 26, 2024, it became known that the electronic billing service for restaurant suppliers DocsInBox acquired a stake in Pointer, the developer of the geomarketing platform. The value of the transaction as of the specified date has not been disclosed.

DocsInBox service (Russian legal entity Doxinbox LLC) received a 10.83% stake in Pointer LLC. Previously, it belonged to the ISLA Foundation (Isla LLC), which is owned by TilTech JSC, Vladimir Trembovolsky and Alexey Baboshin. After the transaction, the founders of Pointer LLC Artem Efremov, Olga Bolotova and Maria Niggol retained their shares in the company.

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Unsplash

According to the RB.ru resource, referring to information received from informed persons, as of mid-2024, Pointer ranks third in the ranking of leading players in the Russian geomarketing market. The leader of the segment is RocketData, which manages the data of more than 190 thousand customer branches. Pinbox is in second place with about 100 thousand branch cards. In turn, Pointer serves 95 thousand client branches.

Such services make it possible from one personal account on the principle of one window to manage different company profiles on maps and respond to reviews. That is, businesses do not have to log into different accounts, they manage to save time, - said people close to the deal.

It is noted that local marketing services are relevant primarily for large companies with a large number of branches or stores. The purpose of the transaction between DocsInBox and Pointer at the time of its completion was not disclosed, but it is known that both companies work with the largest restaurant chain in Russia, Dodo Pizza. Pointer's clients also include Vkusville, Four Paws, Gemotest, Sportmaster, etc.^[3]

2021: Attracting 40 million rubles

On September 22, 2021, it became known about investing 40 million rubles in Pointer. The startup has invested in the venture capital fund QVentures, which has provided funds to strengthen Pointer's position in the local marketing and geo-movement market, expand its geography of presence, and launch a new product.

According to TAdviser in the fund, Pointer plans to focus on accelerating growth in the Russian market and entering the CIS countries. With the investment raised, Pointer intends to launch a new product for small and medium-sized businesses to track reviews and automate responses to them in geoservices, search engines and social networks. Pointer cites data according to which by September 2021, 70 million people in Russia use cards to find or choose a restaurant, store, bank or car service.

Data automation service about the company in maps and search engines Pointer collected 40 million rubles of investments

Pointer attracted attention with good investment performance, active growth, a "driving" team and a full-fledged platform solution. We believe in the prospects of the market and powerful foundations, and we will provide the project with maximum support in development and network, - said Danil Zharikov, fund manager at QVentures.

Pointer works with Russian clients and supports their locations in 14 countries, including Russia, Israel, and the United Kingdom. The company plans to enter European markets in 2023-2024.

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