Investment company Chernovetskyi Investment Group (CIG) has made a six-digit investment into a Ukrainian e-commerce service of personal recommendations Softcube.
Softcube is based on a fairly complicated methodology, but it can be easily integrated into any online store. The service helps customers choosing products and retailers – increase sales. Softcube uses data about the goods and analyzes the customers’ history to create personal recommendations for online buyers.
The results of such smart recommendations are presented as "Customers who bought this item also bought", "People who were interested in this product were also interested in" etc. Moreover, due to cooperation with eSputnik online marketing system, personal recommendations can be delivered via e-mail and messages. As a result, Softcube allows retailers to increase online sales by an average of 7-12%.
Softcube was founded in 2012 by Oleg Lesov and a year later Roman Zakharov joined him. Oleg previously headed the IT department of a pharmaceutical chain. Roman is a mathematician and a scientist who previously dealt with bioinformatics at the Universite Catolique du Lovain (Belgium, included in the Rating of the Best Universities in the World, for more information: https://goo.gl/82EUsk).
Today, Softcube is a Ukrainian company with an office in Dnipro which creates personal recommendations akin to the ones used by Amazon and Netflix. Among the Softcube clients are Yves Rocher, Allo, Foxtrot, leBoutique, Studio Moderna (TopShop and Dormeo brands). Softcube works with merchants in 11 countries, processes more than 500 GB of data per day, and studies the shopping preferences of over 15 million users per month only in Ukraine. Yet, the data of each client is segregated and used only for its marketing campaigns.
The raised funds will be used to drive sales and marketing, as well as to enter the European market. “At the same time, the project remains Ukrainian. This is a principled position for us as investors,” – stated the managing partner of Chernovetskyi Investment Group (CIG) Vladimir Kryvko. He reminded that CIG has been considering e-commerce startups as an investment target for a long time.
The online shopping market is growing rapidly and it is difficult to overestimate from the perspective of investing. "We have been monitoring many similar services-competitors, including the ones in Europe. Our decision was significantly influenced by Oleg Lesov, the CEO of the project, or as he calls himself – the Chief Executive Optimist. He is young, talented, creative, ambitious, open to dialogue and new ideas. We believe in Oleg's talent, in this unique Ukrainian project. I am sure that in the next few years Softcube will become one of the most successful projects not only in the domestic e-commerce market, but also abroad," - emphasized Vladimir Kryvko.
According to the founder of Softcube Oleg Lesov, the company was looking for an investor who would not only be able to support the company financially, but also functionally assist in its development. After all, CIG has accumulated considerable experience and expertise in e-commerce projects. "Good investors look at the project from the outside and ask complicated questions that help "go beyond" and see a broader picture," – he added.
About CIG
Chernovetskyi Investment Group (CIG) – one of the largest investment companies in the CIS market , it was founded in 2013, with an investment potential of over $750 million. The company's portfolio includes such Ukrainian IT companies as: Eda.ua, Doc.ua, and Zakaz.ua (GV Machines). The latter became a member of the world famous accelerator Techstars in Boston. In 2015, CIG invested $1 million in the platform for children KIDO'Z (Israel) and $1 million in the international service for the bus tickets sale Busfor. For more information: http://chernovetskyiinvestments.com/ru/about/who-we-are