SIF RVC portfolio company first IPOboard placement

LLC Balakam, a portfolio company of SIF RVC, places its shares on the information and trading platform IPOboard, launched on April 2012 and intended to attract investment by promising private companies of Russian economy’s innovative sector, said the RVC.

The company Balakam is engaged in the development of Internet services, performing a quick and easy search for live audio and video streams broadcasting on the Internet. The Balakam search engine implemented a unique patented technology significantly increasing the effectiveness of the search. The proposed solution allows according to special features to select, identify and save links to audio and video content, broadcast of which takes place in real time.

Balakam placement at the IPOboard site is determined by the need to attract the next round of investment of $ 1 M. The received funds will be used to refine the technology taking into consideration the peculiarities of the media content sector and user requirements, to develop applications for Smart TV, set-top-box devices, mobile devices and social networks. The initial target market is the USA. Involving the users will be implemented through a partnership with major search engines, providers of live broadcasts, applications for social networks. The key drivers of market growth are the transition from traditional means of information delivery (TV / radio) to the Internet TV and Radio, smart TV devices and set-top solutions sales growth.

The Balakam Company received seed investment from the SIF RVC in 2011, as well as the resident status of the Skolkovo Innovation Center, joining the cluster of information and computer technology. Currently, a prototype system has been developed, which is available at www.balakam.com. The launch of the product commercial version is expected by the end of 2012.

The Balakam company has become our first portfolio company, which appeared on the IPOboard, - says Alexey Teleshev, the SIF RVC director. - Last year we decided to invest in this project due to the high potential of market, on which the company is oriented. The increase in total viewing time of live video streams in the United States in 2010 amounted to 648%. The volume of search requests on Google related to the live broadcast is estimated at 500 M queries a month. In the nearest future we plan 4 more of our portfolio companies to appear on IPOboard.

IPOboard Project (RII-board) is a constituent part of the Market of Innovations and Investment of MICEX-RTS (MII) and operates under the concept of innovation elevator as defined in the Agreement of ten, concluded between the Russian institutes of development. Currently, about 50 companies are registered on IPOboard.

The IPOboard site was created as a communication tool between investors and a growing young business, as well as a tool to attract funding by promising companies that are not yet ready to enter the full stock market, - says Igor Agamirzyan, the OJSC RVC CEO and Board Chairman. - Competence gained by the OJSC RVC specialists may be useful for application in the IPOboard. And it is especially important for us that SIF RVC portfolio company appeared among the first participants of the site.