Rubbles (Rables)

Rubbles is a Russian IT company founded in 2014 by immigrants from Yandex and specializing in the development of solutions for optimizing key processes of large business using data analysis and artificial intelligence technologies. The company's products are used in the daily operations of banks, retail networks, pharmaceutical companies, oil and gas enterprises, mining and metallurgical companies and other organizations in Russia and around the world (data as of December 2022).

History

2022

Leaving the Rubbles Founders Project

In December 2022, Rubbles founders Nikita Blinov, Vladislav Lissitsky and Alexander Lanarev transferred control and left the project. This was reported to TAdviser by representatives of Rubbles.

Attraction of 200 million rubles from MTS

On November 11, 2022, MTS announced the investment of 200 million rubles in Rubbles . Under the terms of the deal, the telecommunications operator's venture capital fund will receive no more than 10% in a startup founded by former Yandex employees and developing IT solutions to optimize technological and business processes based on data analysis and artificial intelligence.

MTS and Rubbles plan to launch a number of joint products based on recommendation models, geo- and commodity analytics, as well as infrastructure solutions for working with big data. They may be of interest to customers from retail, HoReCa, tourism, real estate, industry and finance segments. Companies will exchange expertise and developments in the field of data science in order to improve the quality of their models, MTS said in a statement.

MTS invested 200 million rubles in the developer of IT solutions founded by ex-Yandex employees to optimize business processes

The market needs more domestic solutions that will guarantee business continuity and depend less on the political and economic situation. MTS plans to expand the portfolio of products based on Big Data and further expansion of data-based solutions into all business verticals of the company. Partnership with Rubbles - one of the leaders of the Russian AI segment - will allow us to reduce the financial and time costs of developing models and products. In the long term, the economic effect can reach billions of rubles, "said Victor Kantor, director of the MTS Big Data Center.

According to Rubbles co-founder Alexander Fonarev, the startup will need a larger amount than 200 million rubles to develop and market new solutions. At the same time, there are no agreements on additional financing between MTS and Rubbles by November 11, 2022. The company managed to develop a number of new products, but plans to enter new markets had to be postponed indefinitely due to the unstable geopolitical situation, Fonarev added.

Withdrawal from foreign markets

As representatives of Rubbles clarified to the TAdviser portal, in 2022 Rubbles ceased operating activities of its foreign legal entity SBDA Group (SBDA GROUP LTD), launched the process of its liquidation and left foreign markets.

2021: Raising $6 million

In mid-December 2021, it became known about investing $6 million in Rubbles. The developer of AI solutions for business founded by Russians received funds from the Elbrus Capital Fund III and FinSight Ventures funds.

This was reported to Forbes magazine in Rubbles. At the same time, the startup did not disclose the parameters of the investment transaction, including what time the Rubbles project was evaluated. At the same time, it is known that investments will be aimed at expanding the product line and the international expansion of the startup.

AI solutions developer for business Rubbles raised $6 million

According to the company's own data, by mid-December 2021, more than 30 customers are cooperating with Rubbles, including Sber, Pyaterochka and Perekrestok, KFC, Gazprom Neft and Mars. The average check for Rubbles services in Russia is 25 million rubles, abroad - $500 thousand a year.

Initially, the startup worked with banks, after which the first foreign client bank appeared in Finland thanks to the London accelerator Accenture FinTech Innovation Lab. Gradually, industrial enterprises, retail, FMCG (consumer goods market) and pharmaceuticals began to appear among the users of Rubbles AI solutions. According to Nikita Blinov, Chief Executive Officer of Rubbles, the oil and gas industry, mining and metallurgical complex, mechanical engineering and logistics by the end of 2021 have entered the active phase of introducing analysis technologies into their processes.

In 2021, Henkel introduced the Rubbles AI solution to improve planning accuracy and increase sales of detergents manufactured under the company's brands. The project led to an increase in the accuracy of planning promotions by 10%. The model also allows you to increase the speed of calculating the forecast and avoid errors associated with the human factor. The technology allowed the company's employees to evaluate the effectiveness of various industrial prices and choose the best in terms of their goals.^[1]

2020

More than 50 completed AI projects

Rubbles is a Russian center of expertise in the field of data analysis and the development of analytical IT solutions using machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies.

Rubbles analyzes business processes and creates solutions based on artificial intelligence that help optimize the problem areas of large business. Algorithms developed by Rubbles work in the daily operations of the largest banks, retail networks, industrial enterprises and other companies in Russia and around the world.

For example, systems for predicting the demand for goods in grocery stores, search engines for goods for online portals of retailers, systems for predicting equipment breakdowns for industrial enterprises, recommendation systems for banks with the ability to form personalized offers and tips.

As of 2020, the company has more than 50 successfully completed projects in the field of artificial intelligence, in the clients of more than 30 leaders in various industries, including Sberbank, Tinkoff, Alfa Bank, MVideo, X5 Retail Group, Henkel, KFC and others.

TAdviser interview with founder Nikita Blinov

In June 2020, Nikita Blinov, co-founder and chief executive officer of Rubbles, spoke in an interview with TAdviser about how smart analytical solutions benefit and how they help employees at enterprises. Read more in the TAdviser interview here.