The international venture fund TA Ventures is interested in investing in Web3 cryptocurrencies, as well as in fintech projects, including neobanks, said the founder of the fund, Victoria Tigipko, in an interview with the Business Breakfast project organized by Forbes in Kyiv.
“Investing in so-called crypto projects, Web3 projects – yes, I am interested in this. We are looking at projects that are related. These are platform solutions, these are projects that can be used globally,” she said, while noting that TA Ventures is already an investor in MoonPay, a fintech company specializing in cryptocurrency payment solutions, and Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange.
“We are interested in such projects on this scale,” Tigipko assured.
According to her, TA Ventures is also interested in fintech projects and has already invested in the neobank project of Dmytro Dubilet, one of the founders of Ukrainian monobank, Nick Bezkrovny, former head of M&A at KPMG, and Oleksandr Vityaz, a provider of cloud operating systems at Corezoid, called Fintech Farm.
“Why neobanks? In our understanding, the world of fintech is moving towards One-Stop-Shop (a “one-stop shop” is a business or service model that offers a full range of products or services to meet different customer needs in one place or on one platform)… That is why we focus on such products,” emphasized Tigipko.
According to her, Fintech Farm operates in Vietnam and Egypt. Launches in India, Azerbaijan, and Georgia are planned in the near future.
The founder of TA Ventures said that she will soon join the board of the global organization Endeavor, founded in 1997 by Linda Rottenberg and Peter Kellner. One of Endeavor’s goals is to transform emerging markets by finding and developing entrepreneurial talent.
“I will soon become an Endeavor board member. As a board member, I am investing in the Ukrainian Endeavor… For me, it is like paying tribute to the development of the Ukrainian startup business ecosystem,” she said.
TA Ventures International Fund was founded by Victoria Tigipko in 2010. It focuses on such technology sectors as mobility, digital healthcare, fintech, industrial technology, enterprise software, real estate technology, logistics, financial services, and IoT. The fund invests in early-stage technology startups focused on sectors such as HealthTech, FinTech, B2B Software and mobility solutions. The average investment amount is from $100 thousand to $500 thousand at the Pre-Seed and Seed stages.
Ms. Tigipko is also the founder of iClub, a private investment club for angel investors that provides its members with the opportunity to invest in promising startups and participate in major technology conferences.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau met with representatives of Canadian business in Toronto, the presidential press service reports.
“The participants of the meeting paid attention to the prospects for investing in Ukraine and the necessary prerequisites to start this process before the end of the war,” the statement said.
Zelenskyy thanked Canada for the assistance Ukraine receives and emphasized the importance of implementing projects to restore the country.
“We are very interested in your coming to Ukraine, very interested in the restoration of Ukraine – this is what we need today. These are all areas in which you are strong. We are very interested in your work, business and technology,” Zelenskyy said.
For his part, Trudeau emphasized the importance of economic support for Ukraine.
“A lot needs to be done in terms of humanitarian and military assistance. But there is also a lot to be done economically. So I am glad that we can discuss this with President Zelensky,” the Prime Minister emphasized.
It is noted that the meeting was attended by the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, his deputy Rostyslav Shurma, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Canada Chrystia Freeland, President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Oleksandra Chyczij, heads of companies operating in the investment, banking, export, construction, energy, technology, etc.
Accor, operator of the Novotel and Ibis brands; Hilton; and Hyatt will not be opening any new hotels in Russia, and they are suspending all partnerships with Russian companies, though they will continue to operate existing hotels, the hotel chains said in their respective statements.
“The French owner of the Novotel and Ibis hotel chains said that it has suspended all planned openings and developments in Russia and any partnerships with Russian companies, though it will continue to operate its more than 50 hotels in the country in order to support its 3,500 Russian employees,” the Financial Times wrote.
Accor was the first international hotel chain to announce a halt, followed by Hilton, operator of the LXR Hotels & Resorts, Waldorf Astoria, Hilton brands and others, and Hyatt. Neither Marriott nor IHG has issued a statement regarding the matter.
“We have now taken the decision to suspend our development activities and any new investment in Russia, and the decision is effective immediately,” the Hyatt hotel chain posted on its official news site.
Hyatt also notes that it will continue to monitor the situation in Russia, while complying with the directives of the U.S. government, as it hopes for a resolution to the crisis.
The Hilton hotel chain said late on Wednesday that it had closed its corporate office in Moscow and would suspend construction of hotels in Russia. The company said in a statement that it would also continue to monitor the situation in Russia.
Accor CEO Sebastien Bazin had previously canceled a meeting scheduled for this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Accor’s plans for 2022 had included the opening of five new hotels in Russia. Overall, there are 50 hotels open in the country, with 21 of them operating in Moscow.
The online booking services of Airbnb and Booking.com have also ceased operations in Russia.
The Radisson hotel chain has stated that it would remain in Russia. “All Radisson Hotel Group hotels in Russia will continue to operate. We are closely monitoring the situation in the region, we care about the well-being of all guests and team members, and continue to adhere to all instructions,” the company said in a statement.
An Israeli investor plans to construct a hospital in Kyiv region, Head of Boryspil Regional State Administration Ruslan Diachenko said.
“We hope that next year the project implementation in the health sector will start, it will be a high-tech hospital. Now we are looking for a land plot or premises,” he told Interfax-Ukraine on during the opening of the FM Logistic new warehouses in Dudarkiv village (Boryspil district of Kyiv region) on Friday.
According to Diachenko, the area of the required site for the future hospital should be 1,500 hectares or more. In addition, two independent power grids will be required.
The planned amount of investment in the project has not yet been disclosed.
According to Diachenko, over the years of independence, some $154 million has been invested in Boryspil region.
The Azerbaijani service company SOCAR AQS is considering the possibility of investing in Ukrainian subsoil, Head of the State Service for Geology and Subsoil Roman Opimakh said following a working meeting in Kyiv on Monday.
“Representatives of SOCAR AQS are interested in investing in Ukrainian subsoil because of the presence of significant potential of both hydrocarbon deposits and raw materials for the production of batteries for electric cars and electronics in our country,” Opimakh wrote on his Facebook page
According to him, the parties agreed to continue the dialogue with the aim of introducing and implementing joint business projects.
Opimakh also invited Azerbaijani partners to pay attention to the Investment Atlas of a Subsoil User, created by the State Service for Geology and Subsoil, containing vacant subsoil areas with deposits of strategic and critical minerals, as well as a data-room of secondary geological information filled with descriptive information about subsoil use objects, land plots within the contours of deposits, and also geological reports.
According to Interfax-Azerbaijan, SOCAR AQS was established in 2007 by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), Nobel Oil Services and Abşeron Qazma Şirkəti as a joint venture providing comprehensive drilling and well management services. Nobel Oil Services is the main shareholder of SOCAR AQS.
The main activity of SOCAR AQS is the provision of services and work on the design and planning of wells, drilling oil and gas wells, drilling directional wells, drilling horizontal wells, well completion, workover, sidetracking and drilling of branched wells.
The Cabinet of Ministers has identified as a priority a project for production of ventilators, two waste incinerators and an air launch space rocket complex, a total of 103 priority investment projects in the approved list until 2023.
As the correspondent of the Interfax-Ukraine agency reports, the government approved the relevant order with a three-day revision at a meeting on Wednesday, November 18.
According to the draft decree, four out of 103 projects provide for financing entirely from the state budget, and another 43 projects partially from the state and/or local budget.
As indicated in the document, among the priority investment projects are the organization of the production of ventilators at the expense of the investor, the state budget and other sources, as well as the construction of a plant for solid household waste processing (ensuring environmental safety in Kyiv) at the expense of an investor.
In addition, among the priority projects is the construction of a waste sorting line in Drohobych (Lviv region) at the expense of the state budget and the local budget.
Among the investment projects that are planned to be implemented at the expense of the state budget and international technical assistance are the modernization of the An-124-100 and An-225 aircraft families at Antonov State Enterprise, an air launch rocket and space complex, the Observatory International Scientific Center on the Pip Ivan mountain – a platform for the development of the Carpathian region.
In addition, it is planned to implement a project to prepare the production of an infrared homing head for guided air missiles, as well as to expand the Yahodyn international checkpoint – exclusively at the expense of the state budget.
Also, at the expense of the investor, local budgets and the state budget, it is planned to implement the construction of waste incinerators in Kramatorsk and Mariupol, the construction of the tourist and transport infrastructure of the Shatsk National Natural Park (plus international technical assistance funds), and to build the H2O Nova Kakhovka Olympic Sports Center.
