Russian investment firm RTP Global has announced a $650 million early-stage fund – its biggest to date by far. The Moscow-headquartered company will plough its cash into startups in Europe, North America, India and Southeast Asia, as it scales its own team across the world.
RTP Global’s previous round, Fund II, launched in December 2017. It raised $200m, which it invested in 34 startups. The fund’s stable included brands like American outfit Smarter Sorting, Germany’s CoachHub and Indian fintech platform Cred. Since its 2000 founding RTP Global has amassed a total of almost $2bn assets under management.
Fund III will be even more ambitious. Driven by teams based in Moscow, New York and Bangalore, it will incorporate new staff in Europe and Singapore. Desired verticals include mobility, fintech, foodtech, healthtech, proptech and sporttech.
“Following the success of our previous funds we are thrilled to deploy more capital than ever, using our unique global position to invest in nascent business models across the world,” said RTP Global CEO and founder Leonid Boguslavsky.
“We are a founders driven firm and the strategy for RTP remains the same. After starting my career as a computer scientist I became a serial entrepreneur, so I understand the unexpected challenges, the ups and downs, and the need for hard work, especially in the early stage of a company’s life,” added Boguslavsky. “Along with great tech and a driven founding team, we will look to invest in companies that share our values and beliefs.”
Boguslavsky is one of Russian tech’s most esteemed figures, having built and sold one of the country’s largest IT solutions integrators to PwC in 1996. He was one of the first to back compatriot company Yandex, an Internet solutions provider employing over 8,000 people and making over $2bn in revenue annually.