The rapid growth of the Russian venture capital market has stopped compared to what it posted at its nascent stage five years ago, East-West Digital News reported citing studies from PwC, Rye Man and Gor Securities or RMG, Fastlane Ventures and its own research study.
While the emphasis and methodologies of the studies were different, the results which showed halting of the growth, signify that in many investment types and segments of the venture market, maturation or even stagnation are growing. In the RMG report, for example, the venture capital volume poured in Russia dropped from $732 million to $405 million from 2012 to 2013 representing a 31% decline. PwC also reported similar findings, with venture capital volume decreasing 28% from $912 million to $653 million in the same period.
Analysts at RMG said, "The euphoria has ended. Investors have become more cautious in choosing projects for their portfolios, more experienced, professional and prudent. As for Western venture funds specifically, their interest in Russian companies remains low and restricted to a few e-commerce projects." They added that the reason for the decline include insufficient information about the venture market in Russia, poor business contacts and a climate that remains unfavorable for investment, the report said.
Fastlane Ventures did find that the investment volume in the Internet segment went up a bit from $643 million in 2012 to $667 million in 2013 but when viewed in the light of the 130% increase posted from 2011 to 2012, the sluggish growth becomes apparent. Fastlane Ventures Investment Manager Andrey Kulikov said, "The seed stage boom is over, and the Russian Internet is reaching a new stage of development."
In the e-commerce space, meanwhile, the research done by EWDN revealed that investment volume for 2012 was $362 million but in 2013, it only reached $235 million, the report said.
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