Moscow, Russia, 28 February 2013 – Frontier Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on investments in consumer Internet services in the Russian-speaking markets, today announced that Najam Kidwai has joined the Fund’s Advisory Board. Mr. Kidwai brings years of valuable experience as entrepreneur, CEO and VC investor in Internet, digital media, technology, and entertainment sectors. As Member of the Frontier Ventures Advisory Board, Mr. Kidwai will work alongside the Fund’s founders and other Advisors, including Gregory Finger, a serial Internet entrepreneur and co-founder of DST/Mail.ru Group.
Mr. Kidwai is a General Partner of Edge Venture Capital, a US VC fund focusing on media, consumer Internet and wireless and broadband technologies. Mr. Kidwai is also a member of the Advisory Boards of Cleartrip, InMobi, GlobalLogic Inc., Quixey and several other leading consumer Internet businesses around the world.
Mr. Kidwai comments on his new role: “I am delighted to be joining the Advisory Board of Frontier Ventures, one of Russia’s leading VC firms. Russia is now the largest online market in Europe and cannot be ignored – as evidenced by successful businesses such as Yandex, Mail.ru and many others that are expanding fast at home and abroad. I am looking forward to working with Dmitry Alimov, Oleg Tumanov and Gregory Finger and the rest of the Frontier Ventures team. This is an impressive group and one that has a great track record in this market. I am looking forward to helping them build the next generation of leading Internet companies in Russia and CIS.”
“Mr. Kidwai’s extensive entrepreneurial and investment experience as well as his wide network of relationships in Silicon Valley, Europe and MENA will make an invaluable contribution to the Fund and its portfolio companies”, says Dmitry Alimov, the Fund’s Co-founder and Managing Partner, “this is also an excellent opportunity to connect our portfolio companies with global expertise that Mr. Kidwai brings to the table. In particular, we are excited about his unique track record of building successful online companies in developing countries, not just in developed ones. ”
About Najam Kidwai
Najam Kidwai is an experienced CEO, Venture Capitalist, Entrepreneur, Board Director and Private Equity Investor in technology, digital media, consumer & business internet and entertainment sectors in the US, UK, Middle East and India. Since 2004, Najam is a General Partner of Edge Venture Capital, a US VC fund. From 2006 until 2009, he founded and led as CEO Real Time Content, a leading personalized video platform. From 1999 until 2004, Mr. Kidwai was a co-founder of Atomic Tangerine (an SRI International spin-off), a VC firm that invested in a number of companies in the US and Europe, SRI investments include the NASDAQ-listed Nuance Communications, one of the leading providers of voice and language solutions for businesses and consumers worldwide.
About Frontier Ventures
Frontier Ventures is a venture capital fund that supports entrepreneurs in the Russian-speaking consumer Internet industry. It was co-founded in 2011 by Dmitry Alimov and Oleg Tumanov. The fund works closely with entrepreneurs to build leading businesses in the Russian-speaking Internet. Its partners are serial entrepreneurs with hands-on experience in the launch and development of leading online consumer services. For more information please visit www.frontier.ru/en or contact Dmitry Alimov at +7 (495) 540 4255 or via email media@frontier.ru.