Such extensive venture funds are not commonplace in Russia. Created in August this year, Runa Capital positions itself as a qualitatively different player in the market. The fund's aim is to help talented Russian techies launch globally competitive products. The fund operates through an own incubator (Runapark) and looks for start-ups in the fields of cloud computing, mobile and Internet apps, machine learning and virtualization. Mihail Yshakov, junior partner, commented that priority will be given to projects with strong technological base to ensure they are hard to copy and while the main target group is Russian start-ups, they would be also be looking for cases in CIS and Sillicon Valley. Runa Capital is also planning to attract investors from USA and Europe to co-fund projects and share the expertise. Fund's founders and main investors add extra value for the projects since they include experienced and well-connected entrepreneurs like Serguei Beloussov (Chairman and CEO of Parallels) and Alexander Galitsky (founder Almaz Capital)

Runa Capital recently announced their first $2M-worth investment into a Russian mobile start-up still in stealth mode, OnAir3G. In an earlier interview, however, it was estimated that investment for each project would be between $100 000 - $1M. Russian media also noted that the timing of the fund is peculiar given a recently predicted slowdown in the Russian innovation market that is due to last for the next three years. However, given that tech innovation is not a well-established market in Russia, no slowdown would make any fundamental changes. Plus, a fund that looks out for and supports truly innovative ideas in an often unexplored market is likely to get rewarded for their bets.