Third Rome creates its own venture capital fund of $50M

Investment company Third Rome officially announces the establishment of its new venture capital fund, which will support Russian IT and Internet projects. The volume of Third Rome Black River Ventures (TR BR) will be $50M. A long list of more than 20 projects that meet the investment criteria of TR BR has already been formed.

The Fund will invest up to $50M in a company/project which business is associated with the development of the Internet and IT markets in Russia and CIS countries, which has created a product or service at the initial stage of business growth and has the potential to become one of the leaders in their segments of the market - a statement of the company says. The priority area for the fund is e-commerce, online ticket booking, mobile internet, social media, digital content, cloud IT applications, IT services, IVAS services and online advertising.

The Third Rome's choice of these investment areas was made because Russian technology sector is 4-5 years behind the West. At the same time, all directions of Russian online business are at the early stage of development. According to the company, in general, Russian technology sector is poised for explosive growth and it is a unique opportunity to invest in already established companies - the future leaders of their respective segments.

The fund says that the market has a significant number of successful companies that require financing to speed up the stage of growth and business development. An additional advantage is a unique 2-3-year window of opportunities for the participation in the natural convergence of Russian market with Western counterparts, when Russian companies will implement proven business model.

Third Rome has not disclosed the information on the proposed activities of the fund (the selection criteria, the amount of funding for individual projects, etc.).