Railway operator Russian Railways and technology conglomerate Rostec have anchored a $100m Russia-based venture capital fund that will target IT technology in the transport sector, CNews has reported.
RT Invest and RZD Technologies, respective subsidiaries of Rostec and Russian Railways, signed a memorandum of understanding for the vehicle at St Petersburg International Economic Forum last month.
The companies have agreed to anchor an investment fund by providing 20% of its capital, with the remaining cash to be sourced from domestic and international companies.
The fund will support a research and development initiative formed by the corporates that is intended to support wireless network devices and internet-of-things technologies used in Russian transport and logistics systems.
Andrey Shipelov, chief executive of RT Invest, said the plan is to make the venture fund ‘fully operational’ in 2020, with the first investment expected to be announced in November 2019.