Runa Capital, Prostor Capital and Fastlane Ventures Merge Assets To Create Leading Medical Internet Resource
Runa Capital, Prostor Capital and Fastlane Ventures Merge Assets To Create Leading Medical Internet Resource
26 September, 2013, Moscow
Runa Capital, Prostor Capital and Fastlane Ventures have merged some of their assets to create a leading online medical Internet company and consolidate the Internet health care segment. The deal combines two resources: VitaPortal (creator of personalized services in health and medicine, asset of Fastlane Ventures and Prostor Capital) and Zdorovie Online (developer company of a medical platform and electronic medical records, asset of Runa Capital). As a result of the merger, an Internet company is being formed, which will operate the largest online services in the field of health in the Russian internet. To maintain the balance of shares and develop a number of additional services under the VitaPortal brand, Runa Capital and the founder of Zdorovie Online Aleksey Kandikov are investing further in the merged company: $1 million is being invested by Runa Capital and $350,000 by Aleksey Kandikov.
As a result of the deal, VitaPortal will be top in terms of attracting investment among medically oriented startups in Russia. Currently, its shareholders include: Fastlane Ventures, venture capital funds Prostor Capital and Runa Capital, and also well-known business angel Esther Dyson.
The main purpose of the merger is to create the top medical online resource on the Russian market. Personalized services of VitaPortal are already used by more than 700,000 registered users. According to investor forecasts, as a result of the merger in 2014, this figure will increase to 5 million.
The funds received during the round will be used to create a number of new online services and further develop the data personalization technology. Particular attention will be paid to the development of services on mobile platforms.
“Our goal is to form the Russian market of medical online services,” said Azamat Ulbashev, CEO and co-founder of VitaPortal. “For any country, the presence of such services, which are important and necessary for everybody, is an indicator of its civilization and its priorities for the health of the nation. I am very pleased that investors share our expectations and support our efforts in this task.”
“The need for ‘digital medicine’ among users is growing rapidly. The global investment in IT startups in the sphere of health totaled approximately $1.5 billion,” says Gaidar Magdanurov, the investment director of Runa Capital. “The deal with VitaPortal and merger with Zdorovie Online will form the largest online medical information portal and provide quality technology solutions for users.”