Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank and the 33rd-biggest on earth, has made a huge pivot to tech, as it bids to revamp its image for the digital age. Today the Moscow-headquartered firm inaugurated…
As Belarus’ Dictator Flails, a Tech Leader Waits
It’s an election year in Belarus, “Europe’s Last Dictatorship,” which means: propaganda, police violence, and political repression. On Thursday Victor Babaryko, the biggest challenger to incumbent Alexander Lukashenko, was jailed on tax…
Eugene Kaspersky Launches Tourism Accelerator, Takes Aim at Russian Hackers
If Russian cybersecurity magnate Eugene Kaspersky rarely steps away from a challenge, this week has been even more combative than usual. On Tuesday the Moscow-based chief of Kaspersky Lab gave an interview…
RTP Global Launches $650m Early-stage Fund
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,…
World Cup VAR is a Disaster Waiting to Happen
On Thursday Russia and Saudi Arabia will contest the first match of this year’s FIFA World Cup, the biggest competition in soccer – and most viewed sporting event on earth. Soccer is…
Mark Zuckerberg Finally Says Sorry – Is It Too Late?
Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg has broken his five-day silence on the Cambridge Analytica affair, telling users the company’s policies represented “a breach of trust between Facebook and the people who share their…
St Petersburg’s Startups Must Continue to Bootstrap, as Russia’s Economy Limits Investors to Moscow
St Petersburg is Europe’s fourth largest city, with 5.3 million inhabitants. It dwarfs other continental hubs like Berlin, Barcelona, Lisbon and Stockholm. But one of the three that outweighs it is Moscow.…
Ukrainian Innovators Make Break for Energy Independence
Amid the fallout of Ukraine’s continued eastern conflict, its energy sector has come under intense scrutiny. The 2014 annexation of Crimea wrested a huge amount of energy potential away from the former…
Ukraine’s Post-Maidan Tech Economy: A Confusing Web of Hope and Hardship
They call them the Aitishniki: the IT workers. They drive around in fancy cars, drink flat whites from cafés with English on the chalkboard and eat at flashy new restaurants. They can…
Kreditech Learns to Innovate Like a Startup, and Work Like a Bank
Kreditech’s high-flung office offers a spectacular, 360-degree view of its hometown of Hamburg. That is, when it is sunny. When Red Herring visited the fintech firm’s HQ earlier this year, the German…