At the opening ceremony of the 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa on 21 November 2024, Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant of Goa introduced “WAVES,” the over-the-top platform of Prasar Bharati, the country’s public broadcaster. Several dignitaries attended the event, including Secretary I&B Sanjay Jaju.
In order to meet the increasing demand for digital streaming services, Doordarshan, India’s most recognisable public broadcaster, has entered the OTT (Over-The-Top) platform market. By providing a wide range of both modern programmes and historical content, the platform seeks to rekindle nostalgia while embracing contemporary digital trends. The website appeals to viewers seeking emotional and cultural ties to India’s past thanks to its library of classic series, including Ramayan, Mahabharat, Shaktimaan, and Hum Log. In keeping with its dedication to diversity and inclusivity, it also provides news, documentaries, and local programming. Doordarshan’s OTT platform connects classic television with contemporary streaming by utilising its decades-long legacy and national trust, catering to both tech-savvy young people and older generations.
Featuring Inclusive India Stories
With stories about inclusive India that embrace Indian culture with a global perspective, “WAVES” debuts as a major OTT aggregator in more than 12 languages, including Hindi, English, Bengali, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati, Punjabi, and Assamese. It will span more than ten infotainment genres. Video on demand, free-to-play games, radio and live TV streaming, 65 live channels, multiple app-in-app connections for gaming and video content, and online buying via an e-commerce platform backed by Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) will all be available.
WAVES also provides a platform to content creators, including National Creator Awardees like Kamiya Jani, RJ Raunac, Shraddha Sharma, and others, as a deliberate move to unleash the potential of young creators in the creative economy. Film and media colleges such as FTII, Annapurna, and AAFT have made their graduation films available on WAVES.
IFFI will Screen New WAVE’s Films and Series
WAVES will exhibit “Roll No.52,” a student-produced film from Annapurna Film and Media Studio directed by Nagarjuna and Amala Akkineni, in keeping with the 55th IFFI’s emphasis on up-and-coming filmmakers. WAVES will film “Fauji 2.0,” a contemporary version of the classic Shahrukh Khan programme from the 1980s, “Kicking Balls,” starring Oscar winner Guneet Monga Kapoor, “Jackson Halt,” a crime thriller, and “Jaiye Aap Kahan Jayenge,” which is about mobile toilets.
WAVES features live events such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s monthly Mann ki Baat and the Prabhu Shriram Lalla Aarti LIVE from Ayodhya. Beginning on November 22, 2024, WAVES will broadcast the forthcoming US Premier League Cricket Tournament LIVE. Additionally, in collaboration with CDAC and MeitY, WAVES will begin a Cyber Security awareness campaign using Daily Video messaging. Programmes like Cyber Alert (by DD News features) and Cyber Crime ki Duniya (a fictionalised series) support this approach.
In order to effectively convey important messages, states and ministries of the central government are also collaborating with Prasar Bharati to co-develop and provide a variety of programming, including entertainment-valued reality shows, dramatised or fictionalised shows, and docudramas. A documentary on the 75th anniversary of the Supreme Court of India, the unique archival material from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, such as old photographs, journals, and periodicals, and the NFDC archives named Cinemas of India are among the contents. WAVES has also received educational and entertaining programming from the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Finance, IGNCA, Ministry of Culture, and India Post.
We are quite aware of the economical status of Russia. Russia’s economy is known as the 11th largest economy in the world. Its economy is contributed majorly by the service sector at 62.3% of the 1.63 trillion dollars, along with the 63% of total employees for the labour force. On the other hand, Russia is widely supported by Europe as being its largest trading partner.
When it comes to the startup culture, Russia has the support of some major factors like sea routes access, location, access to natural resources and European markets. However, a large number of Russian startups are established in Moscow & St. Petersburg.
In the modern era of the millennials, Russia works as the nerve centre of the whole Eurasian startup culture. Russia has more than 3.8K tech startups among which 9 are public estate. And, in that case, we have brought you the Russian startups which are listed among the unicorns of the World along with the top potential “Soonicorn” startups in Russia. Go through the article and you will find the exclusive Russian tech startups with a substantial valuation status. Let’s get started!
Russia has two very prominent unicorns, Avito.ru and Wildberries. These two companies exceed their valuation of billion dollars. Russia is quite famous for its economy and startup ecosystem. And, these companies have made their way to the list of unicorns with a valuation of over $1 billion. These are briefly discussed below.
Avito
Founder- Jonas Nordlander and Filip Engelbert Founded Year- 2007 Funding- USD 1.3 Billion
Avito – Unicorn in Russia
The well-established Russian company, Avito.ru is a classified advertisement website. It’s known as the most prominent and established classified website in Russia and the second largest in the world. Avito.ru was founded in 2007 by Jonas Nordlander and Filip Engelbert. The company works through the services of E-commerce and web communication.
Moreover, the website of Avito has further categories of general goods for sale, personals, jobs, real estate, services and cars for sale.
Avito.ru made its biggest achievement when in 2019, the daily visitors of the website reached 10.3 million. The services and valuation of Avito.ru mark the company in the eyes of Russian Forbes. Later with the ranking as third, it came out in the list of most expensive companies of the Runet. The estimated valuation of Avito.ru is around $4.9 billion.
Wildberries
Founder- Tatyana Bakalchuk Founded Year- 2004 Funding-
Wildberries – Unicorn in Russia
Wildberries is known to be Russia’s largest online retailer. The company was established by Tatyana Bakalchuk in 2004. It was headquartered in Moscow, Russia. Tatyana was formerly a teacher but, on her maternity leave, she developed this website. And now, the company has crossed the revenue of over $3 billion. Wildberries is the leading Russian E-Commerce market at a valuation of $30bn.
Wildberries employs over 48,000 people with the work establishment in 7 countries. On average, Wildberries process 750,000 orders per day online with the wide categories of 37,000 brands of clothing, cosmetics, children products, shoes, food, books, jewellery, electronics and many others.
When the pandemic came in 2020, the company progressed with a sudden increase in sales volume and reached up to $6 billion. Wildberries have experienced great development in the past years. And now, it is moving towards its development in countries such as the United States. Besides, the company has now started online sales in Russia through instalments or on credit.
Well, as we went through the unicorns of Russia it would be absolutely interesting to know the potential startups which are on their way to get the unicorn status, or the Soonicorns. Therefore, we have discussed the potential startups of Russia as well. Let’s get started with the Soonicorn startups.
Waves Platform
Founder- Sasha Ivanov Founded Year- 2016 Funding- USD 240 million
Waves Platform – Soon to be Unicorn in Russia
Waves Platform is a very well known blockchain-based startup that provides the service of digital application advancement infrastructure for public institutions as well as enterprises. The company is headquartered in Moscow, Russia.
Moreover, Waves Platform has many potential investors such as Dolfin, Blockchain R&I, CV VC and many more.
Indriver
Founder- Arsen Tomsky Founded Year- 2012 Funding- USD 15 million
Indriver – Soon to be Unicorn in Russia
Indriver is a company offering a ride-hailing service through a digital application for the demand of intra-city taxi rides. The application offers plenty of passenger based services such as setting their price, negotiating and more. The company was founded in the year 2012 and is established in Yakutsk, Russia.
Indriver is expanded to many cities across South Africa, CIS, America and LATAM.
Founder- Vladimir Vinogradov and Oleg Savtsov Founded Year- 2010 Funding- USD 25 million
Biglion – Soon to be Unicorn in Russia
The digital platform for the wide range of category O2O deals. Biglion is a well-known company that offers many deals of services such as fashion products, beauty and health, fitness clubs, restaurants, and many more. Biglion was founded in 2010 in Moscow, Russia. It has its potential investors as RTP Global and Tiger Global Management.
MANEL
Founder- Manel Guillen I Sola Founded Year- 2010 Funding- USD 12 million
MANEL – Soon to be Unicorn in Russia
MANEL is a prominent company that develops high technological equipment for the development of a porous nanostructural non-metal non-organic coating that occurred from the microarc oxidation. It has taken it to a next level of quality as well as advancement. MANEL was founded in 2010 and headquartered in Tomsk, Russia. Its significant fundings comes from Rusnano and Tomsk State University.
Founder- Serge Faguet Founded Year- 2011 Funding- USD 51 million
Ostrovok – Soon to be Unicorn in Russia
The well-established hotel booking platform, Ostrovok.ru offers great services through brief research, review and convenience along with further travel details. Ostrovok.ru is known as the OTA for hotel booking. Its digital application suits Android and iOS very well. Its prominent investing comes from Fritz Demopoulos, Niklas Zennstrom and Vaizra Capital.
There is a vibrant and wealthy startup ecosystem in Russia. Although there are only two or three startups mentioned in the unicorns list, there are dozens of startups that have a high valuation and a very fair chance of becoming unicorns soon. Alongside, many are counted as potential startups who can gain unicorn status one day. There are many powerful and prominent startups in Russia and these have many potential investors as well. Russia has a long way ahead, meanwhile, its startup culture is progressing with each passing year.
FAQs
What are the unicorns in Russia?
Two unicorns has been identified in Russia. They are:
Avito
Wildberries
Which are the most valued startups in Russia?
Some of the potential startups on their way to get the unicorn status are:
Waves Platform
Indriver
Biglion
MANEL
Ostrovok
Which is the largest company in Russia?
Some of the largest companies (as per market capitalization) in Russia are:
Gazprom
Sberbank
Rosneft
Novatek
United Heavy Machinery
Lukoil
Nornivkel
Polyus
Surgutneftegas
Severstal
Which city is the startup hub of Russia?
Moscow is the startup hub of Russia. Most of the prominent startups are headquartered in Moscow, Russia.
Nitin Konde
