Participated · Equity · Jan 2022

IXcellerate operates commercial data centers and provides on-demand colocation and high-connectivity services to Russian and international corporations, financial institutions, hypercloud players and carriers. Its facilities are rated Tier III / Level 3 and it reports 99.999% service availability. The company is ranked among the Top-3 largest data-center operators in Russia and counts customers such as Tencent Cloud, Huawei, Softline, Nestlé, Refinitiv and Orange Business Services. IXcellerate announced c. $190 million in new financing and will use the proceeds to accelerate expansion of its Moscow North and South campuses. Management plans to add new capacity and to build one of the largest data campuses in Europe, improving connectivity, availability and performance for a broader customer base. The company emphasises sustainable, ESG-compliant practices and scalable infrastructure to support digitalisation and uninterrupted business operations. IXcellerate operates a carrier- and cloud-neutral commercial datacentre campus in Russia, offering personalized colocation solutions for servers and telecommunication equipment with scalable, on-demand capacity. The company’s Moscow One campus covers 15,741 square meters, with 6,000 square meters of colocation space and a current capacity of 2,185 racks in the existing building. Customers include multinational corporations, finance conglomerates, large retailers, IT providers and communications companies such as Thomson Reuters, Orange Business Services, RETN, Telia, NTT Communications, Evroset, Softline, Onlanta and FORS Distribution, along with other global corporations (some undisclosed). Led by CEO Guy Willner, IXcellerate has raised $35m in international funding for its Russian project. The company recently secured a $15m convertible loan from Goldman Sachs. The new funding will be used to expand the IXcellerate Moscow One Datacentre in Northern Moscow.

Participated · Series C · Aug 2021

Headquartered in Amsterdam and rebranded from Dostavista, Borzo operates a crowdsourced same-day delivery service focused on emerging economies. The company leverages a gig-economy workforce that can deliver via any route, transport, weight or size, and says it has built algorithms to optimize numerous parallel delivery routes based on geography, package contents, couriers and other factors. Founded in 2012, Borzo operates in 10 countries, including Brazil, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam. It reports a customer base of 2 million users and 2.5 million couriers, fulfilling over 3 million orders per month. Borzo states its annual gross revenue run rate approaches $150 million. Management says demand for affordable same-day delivery accelerated during the pandemic and the company aims to become one of the top courier delivery companies in each market it operates, emphasizing operational synchronicity and consistent brand perception.

Participated · Series D · May 2021

IVI is a Moscow-based video-on-demand platform targeting Russian-speaking viewers, offering licensed content and live-streaming channels for independent producers. Founded in 2010 by Oleg Tumanov, the company positions itself as a national streaming champion. Management says the new capital will be used to expand the platform’s content catalogue and to foster the creation of original programming. IVI emphasizes creating monetization opportunities for content producers and continuing to enhance service and user experience. The company has raised $434.7 million to date in equity and debt financing. ivi is one of Russia's largest OTT video-on-demand platforms. The company says it holds 42% of Russia’s licensed professional OTT VOD market, about twice the share of the second-largest player. Revenues reached approximately $63 million in 2018. ivi's core product is an on-demand streaming service serving Russian viewers. The company plans to use new capital to further accelerate growth and solidify its market-leading position, particularly by expanding its own content production. In support of those plans, ivi secured a $40 million funding round from a group of investors. Ivi.ru is an online streaming service that offers premium TV, feature and documentary films, cartoons and music videos licensed from major Hollywood studios, music majors, and European and Russian producers. The company says its catalog exceeds 65,000 titles. It reports more than 10 million monthly unique users watching over 50 million videos across its website and mobile apps, up from about 3 million visitors a year earlier. Ivi plans to use new funding to build out its technology and expand its content catalog, improve user experience, and extend distribution to multiple mobile platforms and smart TVs. Management says Russia is the primary market, with possible future expansion into adjacent former Soviet markets under consideration. The service faces competition from YouTube and Rutube and potential entrants such as Hulu and Netflix as Russian broadband adoption grows.

Participated · Series A · Feb 2021

Tau develops carbon-conscious protective coatings for high-performance and standard copper, aluminium and steel wires, positioning itself as an innovative supplier to the automotive industry. Its wire products are designed to meet next-generation electric motor requirements, including superior resistance to partial discharge and operation at 800V and above. The company recently completed validation processes with several automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers across Europe, Asia and North America. Tau is ramping up capacity and preparing industrial-scale carbon-neutral winding wire production in Italy. It aims to begin worldwide deliveries by 2024. The company is led by CEO Francesco Taiariol and has secured external growth capital through a recent Series B round. Tau is a technology and sustainable manufacturing company focused on electrification of transport and decarbonization of energy. It develops high-performance wire combining minimized partial discharge, high filling factors, temperature resistance, and high-voltage and frequency optimization. These features aim to enable global producers of electric motors, cars, buses, trucks and aircraft to double the power output of future traction motors while keeping their size. The company is led by CEO Francesco Taiariol, CTO Piero Degasperi and CDO Daniel Rutz. Tau has operations in Turin, Moscow and Berlin. It closed €10.25m in Series A funding and intends to use the proceeds to expand operations and continue development efforts. Tau develops DryCycle® solvent-free wire-coating technology and LILIT® inline quality-control systems for magnet wire and electrical steel, aiming to reduce VOC emissions, greenhouse gases, energy use and waste. Its core products are high-performance insulated wires for automotive, energy and agricultural applications. The company plans to widen its product range of high-performance wires and scale up industrial production to supply global producers of electric cars, buses, trucks, aircraft and ship vessels from early 2022 onwards. Tau has about 40 employees across offices in Turin, Moscow and Berlin. The funding announced will be used to accelerate new product development and industrial scale-up. Led by co-founders Francesco Taiariol (CEO) and Filippo Veglia (CSO), the company emphasizes a simplified, resource-efficient production process.

Led · Equity · Sep 2020

NtechLab sells software that analyzes video footage in real time to recognize faces, silhouettes and actions across large camera networks. The company’s platform can process vast numbers of feeds simultaneously, a capability it cites as a key differentiator for city-scale deployments. It has government and city contracts and counts clients in 30 cities across 15 countries in the CIS, Middle East, Latin America, Southeast Asia and Europe. NtechLab broke even last year with revenue of $8 million, roughly three times the prior year, and expects to finish 2020 at a similar growth pace. The startup plans to develop new capabilities such as automatic detection of aggressive behavior and vehicle recognition. It is seeking to expand in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Latin America and to win more non-government customers in entertainment, finance, trade and hospitality.