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!
Unicorns in Russia
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
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 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.
Anik Banerjee
Soonicorns in Russia
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 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 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.
PV Vyshnavi
Biglion
Founder- Vladimir Vinogradov and Oleg Savtsov
Founded Year- 2010
Funding- USD 25 million
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 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.
Anik Banerjee
Ostrovok
Founder- Serge Faguet
Founded Year- 2011
Funding- USD 51 million
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.
Shubham Kumar
Conclusion
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.