OREANDA-NEWS. December 09, 2010. I-Free, a leading provider of mobile content services in Russia and the CIS, has been awarded Venture Partner status by the Seed Fund of the Russian Venture Company. The role of i-Free will be to look for innovation projects of promise and put up investments for their development.

Innovation has always been a strong focus for i-Free, which launched a new dedicated division, i-Free Innovations, last June, whose task is to search for new business opportunities and to develop, pilot and activate venture projects, innovative products and promising technological solutions.

i-Free took another stride in that direction when it signed a partnership deal with the Russian Venture Company’s Seed Fund (RVC SF), awarding i-Free RVC SF Venture Partner status.

The Russian Venture Company (RVC) is a government-run fund of funds, the mission of which is to channel public incentives to venture capital and provide financial support for the high-tech sector overall. RVC also doubles as a government think-tank, dedicated to the advancement of the venture capital industry in Russia.

The Seed Fund recently launched by RVC is tasked with the mission to invest in Russian innovation-based startups promising high growth opportunities both in the Russian and international IT markets. One of the fund’s priorities is to dramatically increase the number and quality of innovation-focused small businesses that may later qualify for financing from venture investors and early-stage funds.

As an RVC SF Venture Partner, i-Free will search for innovation startups with a promise of high-growth, evaluate their potential, and then select the most attractive projects to qualify for development financing. i-Free will do this both independently and in conjunction with the RVC SF. “We trust that our partnership with i-Free will be a lasting and mutually rewarding one,” said RVC SF Director Aleksei Teleshev, commenting on the award of Venture Partner Status to i-Free. “i-Free is no stranger to the high-tech market. The company is a vastly experienced developer and implementer of innovation products. I believe i-Free’s expertise and competencies will make a real difference for high-tech startups.”

Some of the latest cutting-edge solutions successfully floated by i-Free in Russia and internationally are: a mobile vending module for vending machines, a range of innovative products and services based on the GPS technology, NFC, QR codes, AR (Augmented Reality), and others.

i-Free works extensively together with the leading Russian mobile operators and major mobile vendors, providing them with technologically advanced solutions, while continually adding new, pioneering services to its own mass-market portfolio.

“We see so many bright, vibrant new companies and entrepreneurs with great ideas around us all the time,” said Kirill Petrov, Managing Director of i-Free Innovations, commenting on i-Free’s partnership with the RVC SF. “The problem is, most of them lack the capital and experience to translate their ideas into a thriving business. From now on, i-Free, which has amassed a wealth of experience in innovation and solid IT and mobile competencies, will be there to share its experience, lend it to fledgling projects of promise. And we’re also counting on synergies between new projects and those areas in which i-Free has traditionally retained a strong clout, namely: mobile services and applications, digital content distribution, electronic finance, international projects and international marketing. Our goal is to make sure that technological achievement is promptly transformed to relevant products and services that people can use day to day. Our partnership with the RVC SF is another milestone on that path.”

As a RVC SF partner, i-Free will find and cull startups with attractive growth potential, foster skills and competencies in venture project management, work to boost private investment in venture projects, ensure sustainable growth and development of innovation companies, maximize their capitalization, and so on.

For a start, i-Free has put together a tentative investment portfolio, listing a few startups in IT, Internet and mobile technology.

i-Free plans to soon start its own venture capital fund that will provide financing for innovation projects.
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i-Free is a Russian innovation company, operating in the CIS since 2001 and internationally, since 2006. i-Free’s focus is on pioneering projects in mobile and NFC technology, electronic finance, digital content distribution, electronic payments and micropayments, applications for smartphones and new network devices, B2C digital product marketing and B2B mobile marketing.

Outside Russia, i-Free operates successfully and has offices in Kyiv (Ukraine), Minsk (Belarus), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Mumbai (India), Beijing (China) and Sao-Paolo (Brazil). i-Free products and services are available in more than 100 countries.

Headquartered in St. Petersburg, i-Free also has an office in Moscow. The company currently employs more than 350 staff.
i-Free partners with the leading mobile operators in Russia and the CIS, with international mobile equipment vendors, banks, transnational brands, major media groups, publishers and online resources.