How the “venture landscape” is changing: KAMA FLOW at the forum on the present and future of technological investments in Russia

On August 8, the Moscow Venture Forum "Venture Landscape" took place at the Lomonosov Innovation Cluster. More than 60 experts discussed the results of the first half of the year in the venture capital market in 14 business sessions. The forum was attended by over 700 people. The investment company KAMA FLOW was a strategic partner of the event.

 

Company partner Kirill Tishin took part in the plenary session "Venture Cycle: from idea to exit." He shared his view on the drivers behind the development of the Russian venture industry and talked about which projects are of interest to private investors today:

“If we try to single out just two criteria that influence project selection, the first would be partnership. For us, it is important that a team is both strong and able to generate new ideas together with us and cooperate in a way that is comfortable for both sides. The second criterion is the product and the market; these are tightly interconnected. We assess the market size and the potential for the team to ‘survive’ in it.”

The panel discussion “M&A or IPO as sources of liquidity for investors and founders” was held with the organizational support of KAMA FLOW. Together with the company’s partner Pavel Okhonin, who acted as moderator, the speakers discussed trends in the M&A market in the technology sector for 2024-2025, the impact of key interest rate changes, corporate non-organic growth strategy, and the question of competition between M&A and IPO.

“In our industry, we usually don’t give diagnoses, we make forecasts, but today we’ll break that habit: M&A is alive. Multipliers are still quite low—5x EBITDA. Strategic buyers are interested, and they see the benefits of venture funds for companies they later acquire, for example, in the area of corporate governance development. Mainly, they are attracted by talented and experienced entrepreneurs who can create synergy for the core business,” said Pavel Okhonin.

 

Participants in the discussion were:

• Dmitry Reidman, Director for Digital Business Development (Rostelecom)


• Sergey Zabaluev, Head of Strategic Initiatives Implementation and M&A (MOEX)


• Oksana Popova, M&A Director (EFKO)


• Marat Akhmerov, Investment Director (RT-Business Development)


• Anna Burakova, Head of M&A (IBS)


• Anna Krylova, M&A Project Manager (Tochka Bank)

KAMA FLOW’s Investment Director Sergey Gaivoronsky also spoke at the forum, representing the company in the sessions “Investor and Portfolio Company: The Beginning of a Partnership” and “Behind the Deal: Best Practices for Structuring Investments”.

Moscow Venture Forum is traditionally one of the key industry platforms, bringing together active players in the market and allowing the industry to outline its strategic course for the rest of the year.