In 2022, the number of Russian IT startups opening representative offices in foreign jurisdictions increased significantly. So, until last year, only 26% of startups that passed the IIDF’s GoGlobal accelerator opened foreign structures, after that – already 74%.
Most of these organizations operate abroad in several segments at once: 73% – B2B Enterprise, 58% – SMEs, 27% – B2C, 8% – B2G.
The main part of the founders – 31% chose the countries of the near abroad (Kazakhstan, Armenia and others) for registration. Another 23% chose traditional jurisdictions for venture investors (Cyprus, the US state of Delaware, the Cayman Islands). The same number preferred the United Arab Emirates, China and India. 6.3% of the founders settled in the EU countries. And another 16.7% have registered representative offices in countries where their market is.
Most of the founders – 62% – companies registered abroad for citizens of the Russian Federation, 19% – for residents of the country of presence, in 11% of cases the company belongs to a Russian company, in 8% – is registered in the name of a local partner company or co-founder.
Almost all projects (89%) had to be developed on our own. Only 11% of startups managed to attract investment, their average volume was about $1.5 million, at the same time not a single transaction with the participation of foreign business angels was recorded.
As the founders themselves point out, entering the market of a new country does not always require large investments at the beginning. At the same time, a third (33%) of startups spent more than $500,000 in their first year of operation in a new market, another 38% spent $100,000 to $500,000, and the rest, 29%, spent less than $100,000.
The IIDF survey included 75 startup founders out of 150 who completed the GoGlobal program in 2022-22023.
Earlier, RB.RU said what conditions, according to experts, will contribute to the rapid restoration of the venture capital market in Russia.
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.
