RTP Ventures, a $120m US venture fund affiliated to Russia-based IT investment conglomerate Ru-Net, has recruited Jalak Jobanputra (pictured), formerly of social venture firm Omidyar Network and corporate venturung group Intel Capital.
Murat Bicer, formerly of venture capital firm Battery Ventures has also joined RTP.
The hires of the two managing directors follows RTP being set up by senior managing director Kirill Sheynkman six months ago. Ru-Net Ventures, the Russia-based backer of RTP Ventures, is chaired by Leonid Boguslavsky. Boguslawsky backed Russian internet companies Ozon, an on-line bookstore, and Yandex, an on-line search engine which floated in the US in May 2011.
Jobanputra said: "I am thrilled to join a team of investors who are dedicated to cross-border, global venture capital investing. It is my goal, and that of my partners, to give entrepreneurs and startup companies greater access to a wide range of the best resources from a regional and global stance, regardless of where that market might be based."
Before joining RTP, Jobanputra worked at venture firm Omidyar Network, which was set up by Pierre Omidyar, who was one of the founders of US-based online retail company eBay. She became a venture capitalist in 1999 at Intel Capital, the corporate venturing unit of the US-based chipmaker, and was formerly a start-up founder and media and telecom investment banker.