aiHit receives US$5.5m investment from VTB Capital

The $5.5 million investment will help finance marketing, business development and R&D.  As a part of the business development plan, aiHit will also be opening an R&D centre in St.Petersburg.

Aidar Kaliev, Head of VTB Capital’s venture business said: “There are several factors that excite us about this company. First, aiHit has created an absolutely unique technology: the company has invented a new way to extract, manage and analyse raw data which, we believe, will change the way the industry operates. Second, we see huge market potential for this technology. The company’s client portfolio demonstrates that many key players already appreciated the value proposition. Finally, we are very impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit of this company.”

Founded in 2007, aiHit is a provider of company data to the business information, market research and lead generation industries.  It uses advanced artificial intelligence and machine-learning technologies to create a company directory directly from the internet.  aiHit's clients include Capital IQ, Equifax and Datamonitor.

Alan Hambrook, the Chairman of aiHit, said: “We are delighted to have VTB Capital on board as an investor; this is a great opportunity for us to take our company to the next level of its development. It is also a unique chance for the Russian market to absorb expertise, through a new R&D centre in St.Petersburg. There are many market opportunities in Russia and we shall be opening an office there to develop our business in the CIS region.”

VTB Capital, the Investment Business of VTB Group, is one of the three strategic business arms of VTB Group, along with the corporate and retail businesses.  Established in 2008, VTB Capital has been involved in more than 170 ECM and DCM deals, which were instrumental in attracting more than USD 90.7bn worth of investments in Russia.

VTB Capital offers a full range of investment banking products and services to Russian and international clients, focusing on arranging operations in the debt, equity, global commodities markets, developing investment and asset management, advising clients on M&A and ECM deals in Russia and abroad.  VTB Capital has offices in Moscow, London, Singapore, Dubai and Hong Kong, with headquarters in Moscow.

This is the company's first round of institutional funding; the Amadeus & Angels Seed Fund backed aiHit with seed financing in 2007.

Amadeus Capital Partners is one of Europe’s leading technology venture capital firms, with £470m under management.  Since its inception in 1997, the firm has backed nearly 70 companies in industries that include communications and networking hardware and software, cleantech, medtech, computer hardware and software, media, and e-commerce. Major businesses built by the firm include CSR plc (LSE:CSR), the leading producer of single chip bluetooth radios for short range connections, Solexa Ltd, the developer of next generation genetic analysis systems, merged into Illumina, Inc. (ILMN) to create the world-leader in gene-sequencing technology and Transmode, a networking solutions business that had an over-subscribed IPO on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm in May 2011.

The Amadeus and Angels Seed Fund (AASF) focuses on seed stage technology companies with a base in the UK. AASF is jointly funded by Amadeus, Capital for Enterprise Limited [BERR], business angels and private investors. AASF has access to proprietary, high-quality deal flow, complemented by the discipline of a large VC fund and the expert knowledge of business angels.

Mann Made Group advised the equity provider on the transaction, the team was led by Tax Director Mark Cundy. 

Mark Cundy is a Chartered Accountant with 25 years of experience in international tax advice. He advises corporations, high net worth individuals and families on structuring their business in the UK and internationally. Mann Made Group was involved in conducting the tax and legal due diligence on aiHit.

The Mann Made Group is a leading supplier of corporate and trust services to professional advisors and high net worth individuals and families.