Russian VCs merge ZdorovieOnline and VitaPortal

The merger was secured by a $1.35m capital injection from ZdorovieOnline's founder, Aleksey Kandikov, and Runa, with the latter supplying $1m of the fresh funding and Kandikov covering the balance. The capital was invested by Runa and Kandikov to maintain the balance of shares in the new entity.

The combined entity will operate under the VitaPortal brand. The fresh capital injection by Runa and Kandikov will also be used to develop several additional services for the new online medical company.

The ZdorovieOnline website has already been redirected to show only a statement regarding the merger and a link to VitaPortal's website.

Previous funding
VitaPortal raised $2m in October 2012 from Prostor and angel investor Esther Dyson. Prior to this in August 2011, the site was officially launched by Fast Lane with more than $1m in seed funding.

ZdorovieOnline was backed by Runa in 2011, receiving several hundred thousand dollars in funding, according to Russian reports.

Companies
VitaPortal was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Moscow. The company employs 20 in-house staff and has approximately 80 freelancers.

Following the merger, ZdorovieOnline has been absorbed into VitaPortal and its technology for storing medical data will be used by the new entity. ZdorovieOnline's team of six has become part of VitaPortal's staff.

Prior to the merger, ZdorovieOnline was headquartered in Novosibirsk. The company, which was founded in 2011, had not yet begun generating revenues, focusing initially on developing its technology.

People
Azamat Ulbashev is the CEO and co-founder of VitaPortal and will stay as CEO following the merger. ZdorovieOnline's founder Kandikov will act as an adviser for the new company.

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