Funds brought online – Kommersant

The growing turnover of online trading and the increase in the share of marketplaces have attracted the interest of well-known investors. The Tiltech group of Vkusvill founder Andrey Krivenko and partners has created a new fund for investments in companies that sell their goods on online platforms, hoping to become a co-owner of future major players. While such investments experts consider risky.

The Tiltech investment group told Kommersant that they had launched a new 3Streams fund for investments in companies that created their product and sell goods on marketplaces. In the first year, it is planned to invest 250 million rubles.

According to the group, projects with an annual turnover of 30 million to 600 million rubles, business growth of 50% year-on-year and operating in markets with a volume of 30 billion rubles or more are being considered. The fund will receive shares in projects, can lend to companies and help in management, Tiltech explains.

3Streams Managing Partner Fedor Yakovlev says that the marketplace market is currently characterized by strong competition and many opportunities for growth, but in the next few years, the most significant sectors will have their own leaders. The competition will be won by companies that can build a strong brand, grow and manage a team, and have access to capital, he said. The first project of 3Streams was the children’s furniture manufacturer Drug Kuzya, in which the fund invested 10 million rubles. Investments will be used to expand the range, including the launch of a line of children’s toys.

Tiltech was founded in 2016 by Andrey Krivenko, the founder of Vkusvill, Yury Alasheev, co-owner of Agama Group of Companies seafood supplier, and Andrey Ivashchenko, head of the Khimrar medical center. It includes several funds, among the projects are the Dorogobogato clothing brand, Doctor Fomin’s Clinics, Blue Sleep mattresses, etc.

According to Data Insight, in 2022 the turnover of the Russian online trading market grew by 38%, to 5.7 trillion rubles, of which 51% came from sales on marketplaces. In 2023, the turnover of the online trading market will increase by 30%, to 7.4 trillion rubles, and the share of the two largest players – Wildberries and Ozon – in money will reach 53%, analysts predict. Data Insight partner Fedor Virin notes that the pace of launching new brands on marketplaces is high, and sales volumes from large sellers are estimated at several billion rubles. Investments in companies operating on marketplaces can pay off in a year and a half, while in the offline market the process can take five to six years, the expert adds.

Marat Ibragimov, senior analyst at Gazprombank, says that Tiltech’s interest is understandable, given the growing share of marketplaces in the Russian FMCG market, as well as the emergence of free niches for local brands in some segments after the departure of some foreign players. According to him, first of all, new niches can be in non-food markets, such as furniture, household goods, appliances and electronics, as well as in some product categories, such as coffee and soft drinks.

Dmitry Gabyshev, managing director of Peregrine Capital, notes that Tiltech is known for risky investments and the ability to find promising areas. In this case, he believes, taking into account the current size of the fund, it will apparently focus on a small number of projects on which Tiltech will be able to test a potentially interesting concept. But Mr. Gabyshev does not expect a surge of interest from funds in companies operating on marketplaces.

Fedor Virin adds that the entry threshold for new sellers on marketplaces is already quite high, and about 80% of sales on online platforms come from several hundred of the largest sellers. Mr. Ibragimov notes that Tiltech is probably ready for a certain share of unsuccessful investments of the new fund, but wants to try to grow one or two “unicorns” in this market, which can then be brought to an IPO.

Anatoly Kostyrev, Alina Savitskaya