Former head of the presidential administration of the Russian Federation and member of the board of directors of Yandex, Alexander Voloshin, together with the founder of Genome Ventures, Alexander Smbatyan, became co-owners of the fintech startup Bloomtech.
Experts interviewed by RB.RU agree that this deal is not a venture and could have been out of money. Both partners have high political clout, facilitating entry into the Russian banking sector, and the market is now interested in platform solutions for banks as part of the import substitution trend.
According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, in July 2022, Voloshin and Smbatyan received 25% each in Bloomtech LLC – this company is working on platform solutions for the banking sector. The project is being developed by Vitaly Sattarov (now owns 50%), also known as the founder of Ubic (develops big data analytics solutions for government agencies and large corporations).
Bloomtech, according to information on its website, offers debt load indicator calculation services, automatic verification of customer data, anti-fraud, graphical analysis.
The company itself positions itself as a “fintech platform for the secure interbank analysis of data on individual accounts in order to reduce the risk of fraud and non-compliance.”
Yandex and Genome Ventures did not respond to questions about the deal. Bloomtech founder Vitaly Sattarov declined to comment.
“Getting a 50% stake is not a risky deal, where they typically take no more than 20% on average in the early rounds, plus this is the risk of a potential stalemate (a conflict situation when the founders of a legal entity with an the same number of votes cannot agree among themselves – ed.)”, says Aleksey Mosolov, founder of Baza VC.
This is more of a partnership than an investment in the classic sense, United Investors co-founder Alexander Gorny agrees: “An investor like Alexander Voloshin invests not so much money as invaluable connections. A functional technology and a resource to promote it is the perfect combination.”
Both participants are affiliated with the Genome Ventures fund and also carry high political weight: the presence of such partners on the board, coupled with an innovative product, makes it easier to enter the Russian banking sector, says Konstantin Kuznetsov, managing partner of Advice. Finance. The expert also considers that the transaction is not negotiable:
“I would consider this agreement as a lobby for the company and technology to work with large clients. According to the algorithm that Ubic has already used, it is not difficult to realize that the key clients are state-owned companies, which you cannot go to from the street.”
Platform solutions for the banking sector are interesting as part of the import substitution trend, because after the departure of foreign infrastructure players, there are still no high-quality analogues, even in banks, adds Alexey Mosolov.
- Bloomtech is not the first fintech project Voloshin has invested in. In February 2022, it also became a co-investor in a deal to buy Digital Era, a developer of fintech projects for Russian and US banks.
- Voloshin and Smbatyan are also joint owners of the Russian Genome Ventures legal entity, Genome Ventures LLC. The company invests in projects in medicine, e-commerce and other industries. The investment portfolio includes the genetic testing company Genotek, the personalized adolescent development platform Profilum and other projects.
Author:
anastasia mariana
Source: RB
I am Bret Jackson, a professional journalist and author for Gadget Onus, where I specialize in writing about the gaming industry. With over 6 years of experience in my field, I have built up an extensive portfolio that ranges from reviews to interviews with top figures within the industry. My work has been featured on various news sites, providing readers with insightful analysis regarding the current state of gaming culture.
