MINSK, 18 October (BelTA) – The Russian-Belarusian venture capital fund RBF Ventures will invest in ten new projects by 2020. The plans to invest in the new projects and raise more money were presented during the latest Open Innovations forum in Moscow, representatives of Russian Venture Company (RVC) told BelTA.
Over 150 startups have already passed RBF Ventures' initial evaluation. A number of the most promising projects have been chosen. Deal structuring is in progress, said Dmitry Kalinin, Belarusian managing partner of the venture capital fund, during the forum.
According to the source, RBF Ventures is becoming a key player on the Belarusian venture investment market. “We intend to support the market. Today the fund is intent on providing the most convenient and popular kinds of investment to the Belarusian venture market – from $500,000 to $2 million,” noted Dmitry Kalinin.
Mikhail Fedotov, RBF Ventures managing partner, member of the board of Russian Venture Company, said: “The economies of Belarus and Russia are closely interrelated, this is why joint work is definitely interesting for Russian Venture Company. We have positive forecasts about the advancement of bilateral cooperation. We intend to increase the size of the fund not only at the expense of state participants, but private investors, too. The fund will announce new deals soon.”
Funding from RBF Ventures is available to companies registered in Russia or Belarus. The fund is intent on investing in IT as a whole, including its segments adTech, AgTech, EdTech, and MedTech. RBF Ventures can invest RUB25 million in projects at an early stage and up to RUB140 million in growing companies.
Belarus' Hi-Tech Park and its unique taxation for resident companies were also presented during the forum in Moscow.
The Russian-Belarusian venture capital fund RBF Ventures was established in December 2016. It is as large as RUB1.4 billion. The investors are Belarusian Innovation Foundation, Russian Venture Company and the company's Infrafund, which initially invested 50%, 49%, and 1% respectively. The RBF Ventures managing partners are RVC Infrafund and Belarusian Innovation Foundation.
