The Russian Edge VIP Evening brought together Russian startups and selected investors during Slush 2015. One of these startups is E‐Contenta, a one‐year‐old project offering predictions to what people want to buy and consume online.
Zoya Nikitina, Founder and CEO of the “personalized recommendation service for media companies”, is not a first‐timer at Slush. Nikitina gives some advice to people like her seeking to expand from the Russian market, where they have worked with some of the most popular websites, including Yandex.ru and Mail.ru.
“If you haven’t planned in advance, it’s almost impossible to find relevant people that you need,” Nikitina says.
When browsing the web with the E‐Contenta platform, information is gathered from multiple sources, including social media activity. The company then filters and analyzes the data to provide “personalized recommendations” for users.
At Slush this year E‐Contenta launched revamped products, which help businesses target advertising, increase session times and engage users through tailored content.
The buzz around Russian firms is picking up speed with efforts gathering together investors and startups.
“There are a lot of things happening. A lot of high tech Russian startups and investors are coming in,” Business advisor Vladimir Chepurnoy from the Helsinki Business Hub comments.
“You should keep in mind that Finland is a very good test back for Russian products to test in the European market. And this is why a lot of them come here,” Chepurnoy says.
Oleg Demidov is the co‐founder and Chief Business Development Officer of Navigine, a Moscow based startup focusing on providing “navigation services enabled by any range of available sensors and signals.” The firm offers developers tools for enabling pinpoint navigation indoors, like in stores or airports.
“I think the atmosphere is really fantastic!” Demidov sees Helsinki as the key step to making business development and attracting investors in Europe.
“Of course we are also working in the Scandinavian market. It is quite close and to us and we have quite similar culture I would say and it will also be interesting to work with local partners.”
Check out more about E‐Contenta: https://e‐contenta.com/en/
Check out more about Navigine: https://navigine.com/