FX.co ★ Five exclusive projects that attracted sizable investments

DataArt, $75 million

Tech company DataArt tops the list of projects with sizable investments. The firm received as much as $75 million in funding from the FTV Capital investment firm. DataArt was established in 1998 when the Mail.ru service was developed to meet internal corporate needs. It later evolved into an independent mail service. DataArt is currently involved in IT consulting and software development for Nasdaq, Ocado Technology, Skyscanner, etc. The company is going to use the FTV Capital funding to expand its business and strengthen DataArt’s position in the cloud services and software markets. In June 2022, it sold its Russian business to N3 Group, a Saint Petersburg investment company, and the managing partner of Tashir Medica for 1.5–2 billion rubles. DataArt’s Russian business now operates under the brand name ITentika.

Retail Rocket, $24 million

Retail Rocket, a marketing start-up specializing in digital marketing, has received $24 million from Cypriot private equity fund Fintera. The company was founded as a developer of marketing technologies in 2012. Today, Retail Rocket creates personalized automated solutions for e-commerce websites. Its technology, which is based on mathematical models, segments customer data and obtains information about their preferences. Japanese video game designer Nintendo, German sportswear brand Puma, and French sports goods manufacturer Decathlon are among Retail Rocket's clients. Having received funding from Fintera, the company announced the acquisition of SailPlay, a software start-up for the gamification of mailing lists and loyalty programs for retailers. The price and terms of the buyout are kept secret.

Advertising service Adwisely, $1.5 million

Adwisely, a Ukrainian online advertising automation service formerly known as RetargetApp, is the third company on the list. Investment funds TMT Investments, Cabra VC, Gaingels, Mana Ventures, and ICU Ventures as well as the founder of Wrike project management software put as much as $1.5 million into the company. The start-up is currently developing an advertising automation system for large online platforms. This feature will enable companies to attract new customers and expand sales. This year, Adwiselу has already raised $3.9 million.

Medical start-up QLU, ₽33 million

QLU, a developer of ultra-sensitive magnetic sensors for brain research, boasts an impressive investment of 33 million rubles. The start-up received funds for the development of the innovation from Gazprombank. Founded in 2016, the company was known as M-Granat. In 2021, it changed its name to QLU. Together with the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) and HSE University, the medical start-up developed the world’s first solid-state supersensitive magnetic sensor (magnetometer). This device records electrical impulses in the human brain. QLU is using this development and attracted investments to create a prototype of an ultra-sensitive magnetoencephalograph – a helmet-shaped device for studying epilepsy, brain tumors, and other neurological problems. This innovative device could reduce the cost of magnetoencephalography (MEG) 10 times and greatly simplify the procedure itself, QLU suggests.

Anti-bot service Jigger, $400,000

Jigger, an anti-bot service for games, rounds the list. In 2021, the company raised as much as $400,000. The funding came from US investment funds Zee Capital and Orange DAO as well as several big businessmen. The Jigger project was launched in March 2022. The service was initially developed as an anti-bot for video games on web3 (decentralized online ecosystem). However, the developers saw that bots interfered in the gaming process. They completed tasks faster than people and received a special currency for this. Therefore, the developers decided to embed the CAPTCHA technology in the interface of the game to protect the project from bots. Notably, many web3 game producers have faced similar challenges. Jigger sees potential in its project. The start-up is now piloting projects with a number of clients, including fashion house Prada, which launched an NFT clothing collection and established a community on chat platform Discord.