Russia’s leading search engine company Yandex has just announced its investment in Seedcamp, a London-based early-stage seed investment fund and mentoring programme for IT companies.
According to a representative of Yandex, the Russian internet giant invested the maximum amount Seedcamp would agree with. In its new role, Yandex will have an great opportunity to watch over and directly contribute to the startup ecosystem in Europe. Conversely, the European startup teams will benefit from Yandex’s expertise in technology and knowlege of the Russian Internet market. They will also have a chance of receiving additional investment directly from Yandex.
Startups have long been a subject of interest for Yandex. In 2011, the Russian search engine started its own seed investment programme, Yandex.Factory. It was launched with the aim to handpick hot startups in the early stages of product development and give them a boost with funding and expert advice. Since the programme started, over 2,000 teams have applied for investment support.
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