Sistema sells SmartTech venture capital fund

MOSCOW. Sept 28 (Interfax) - Sistema PJSFC has exited the Sistema SmartTech venture capital fund, which was established in 2020 to finance early-stage startups.

The Russian group's Sistema Telecom Assets LLC ceased to be the owner of 90% of Sistema SmartTech Management Company LLC as of September 26, the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRLE) showed. The new owner of the stake is JSC Trans Capital.

Capital Invest LLC, the beneficiary of which is Dmitry Sherstobitov, retains the other 10% of Sistema SmartTech Management Company.

Sistema confirmed to Interfax that it has sold the SmartTech fund's management company and said the new owners are not affiliated with the group.

Trans Capital was founded in October 2022, the USRLE showed. Since May 2023, the company has been owned by the Sovremennye Innovatsii combined closed-end mutual fund, which is managed by Sovremennye Fondy Nedvizhimosti LLC.

Since August 2023, Trans Capital's management company has been JSC Financial Institute, the ultimate beneficiary of which is the Standart fund for the development of the investment products market and securitization of assets.

When the Sistema SmartTech fund was established, it was reported that it was created for eight years with an investment period of five years. The target size of the fund was 5 billion rubles and Sistema was expected to be the anchor investor.

It was also reported that over its lifespan the fund might finance about 20 early-stage projects, investing 50 million to 300 million rubles in each one.

The fund focuses on early-stage projects of companies of primarily Russian origin, from seed funding to Series A, with potential for resale to a strategic investor. Sistema SmartTech's investments have included the Profilum career development platform for teenagers, Urent electric scooter rental service, The Mashina automobile subscription service, Directual app development platform and MyGig job search platform.