The startup Briskly, which is developing a self-service platform in stores, has decided to abandon its parent structure in Cyprus and move completely to Russia. This is what the founder of the company, Gleb Kharitonov, told RB.RU.
Briskly launched in 2018 and made two rounds of investments the following year for a total of $370,000. In 2020, the project raised another $2 million to fund its first project in Europe.
At the end of 2022, the company recorded a loss of 54.8 million rubles and revenue amounted to 52.5 million rubles.
Now 43.6% of Briskly belongs to founder Gleb Kharitonov, according to data from Kontur.Focus. Another 13.1% belongs to Vadim Malyshko and 11.1% to Ilya Rybalkin. The remaining 32.2% is listed as the LLC’s share in the authorized capital.
According to Kharitonov, currently not all participants have entered the project. He did not specify to whom the remaining portion will be distributed. Kharitonov added that the relocation process began a year and a half ago.
“Now it is difficult to work with Cyprus, especially since we only have the domestic market left; the international structure has so far turned out to be only a complication for us,” said the company’s founder.
Experts interviewed by RB.RU note that the Briskly solution continues the trend of redomiciliation from Cyprus to Russia that began in 2022.
According to Emil Flyurovich, partner of the Intercession law firm, in the current reality many of the advantages that registration in Cyprus provided are no longer relevant for Russian companies.
The expert points out that Briskly will most likely focus on investors from Russia or from “friendly” countries.
Flyurovich recalled that Briskly is not limited to the development of IT projects. In 2021, the company acquired the Linnafrost refrigerator plant in Vyborg. The production of equipment is completely localized in Russia, so locating the company in the Russian Federation is logical from the point of view of attracting investors.
Kliment Kuzmin, CEO of the development studio for digital solutions for companies OASIS App and the startup academy Products School, points out the extremely unstable political and economic situation.
“Now you can’t be sure of anything, and those countries that were friendly yesterday can suddenly change direction and introduce restrictions. Therefore, in some situations it can even lead to the confiscation of assets,” the expert admits.
Kuzmin also highlighted the difference in currencies, which creates the need for periodic conversions of fairly large volumes. He also highlighted a more favorable tax regime for industrial enterprises upon registration in the Kaliningrad and Vladivostok region.
The current general trend towards business division or change of jurisdiction is confirmed by Ivan Fedyakov, CEO of Infoline. Today, many companies are forced to create separate structures in the Russian Federation that will function in isolation.
In general, experts note, this step indicates that Briskly focuses primarily on the domestic market and the CIS markets. The company is likely to raise funds in Russia and look for investors in “friendly” countries.
Previously, Briskly founder Glub Kharitonov told RB.RU the story of the project’s creation.
Author:
Natalia Gormaleva
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
