Russian internet giant Yandex has acquired a browser application developed by Skolkovo resident Metabar in a multimillion dollar deal, the parties announced Tuesday.
The Sovetnik browser extension helps online shoppers find the best deals. The application is powered by Yandex.Market data and Metabar technology.
“Sovetnik provides a hint instantly, in the right place, and at the right time,” said Alexander Feoktistov, head of Yandex marketing. “People do not have to figure out where to make a purchase.”
“Sovetnik technology is not only applicable with shopping for goods. We plan to use it to assist users in other services where best offer is important, for instance, airplane tickets search,” he added.
The Metabar homepage at sovetnik.metabar.ru
The exact value of the deal was not disclosed. Runa Capital, a venture fund that has Metabar in its portfolio, would only reveal that it won a “multiple” return on a $1 million investment in 2011.
Metabar, a resident of Skolkovo’s IT cluster, developed Sovetnik in 2013. The word “sovetnik” means “advisor.”
Due to the fact that Sovetnik is Metabar’s sole product, and the team is moving almost entirely to Yandex to continue its development, the deal can be classed as essentially an acquisition of Metabar, Skolkovo's first M&A exit.
It marks Runa Capital’s first exit in Russia and fifth overall. The fund’s managing partner Dmitry Chikhachev said: “We are happy with this exit for several reasons.”
“Firstly, Metabar/Sovetnik was one of our first investments from the first Runa fund. Secondly, this is our first and a very profitable exit in Russia, in addition to the four exits abroad.
“Thirdly, another globally known IT brand adds to a list of acquirers of Runa portfolio companies.”
Metabar’s co-founder Mikhail Ushakov noted: “With Runa Capital’s support, the Metabar team has developed a successful, profitable and fast-growing business.”
“Skolkovo has helped us a great deal with the granting of resident status from the start of the project,” Ushakov told sk.ru. “The tax breaks that are given to Skolkovo participants are very necessary for any young IT company. Without that help it would be much harder to achieve success,” he added.
The executive director of Skolkovo’s IT cluster, Igor Bogachev, praised Metabar as being among the top three browser companies in the Russian internet, along with Yandex and Mail.ru.
“The technology developed by Metabar allows site hosts to raise their traffic and, as a result, the profits of internet traders,” Bogachev said.
When downloaded and installed onto an internet browser, Sovetnik assists online shoppers by showing a range of stores where the same product can be found. It provides an instant comparison of quality and price.
It runs on Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Opera platforms, the first cross-browser software of its kind in Russia.
Runa Capital is a $200M global venture capital fund established to pursue opportunities in the rapidly growing areas of cloud computing, internet and mobile applications. It is run by a team of entrepreneurs, most of whom have worked together building tech companies for 15 years.
The fund has previously made four exits: ThinkGrid was acquired by Colt Technology Services in August 2012, StopTheHacker was acquired by CloudFlare in February 2014, Capptain was acquired by Microsoft in May 2014, and BackupAgent was acquired by Acronis in September 2014.