Softline Venture Partners

Softline Venture Partners is the corporate venture capital arm of Softline Group, one of the largest IT service and software distribution groups serving Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Moscow, the fund focuses on seed-to-early-stage software technology investments in Russia and CIS markets, with a particular interest in cloud computing, cybersecurity, big data, IoT, artificial intelligence, edtech, HR-tech, and edge computing. The fund has been led since inception by Elena Volotovskaya, who simultaneously serves as Vice President of Investments at Softline and has overseen more than 100 transactions over 14-plus years. Volotovskaya also chairs the commission selecting software vendors for Russia's national SME digitalization programme and serves as Vice President of Opora Rossii. Typical cheque sizes run $100,000 to $1 million per company, with approximately $20 to $25 million deployed across 36 disclosed investments. Portfolio companies benefit from Softline Group's distribution reach across 30-plus countries and 60,000-plus customers, giving founders a concrete go-to-market channel at entry. Notable portfolio names include electroNeek (RPA, $500,000 seed), Kickidler, JagaJam (analytics), T-One Group (IoT), and HR Rocket, whose seed round in December 2025 is the firm's most recent disclosed investment. The fund has realized two portfolio exits, with Group T-1 exiting in November 2023, and also acquired ScrollTool in March 2025. Softline VP's distinguishing advantage is the parent group's direct market access: portfolio companies can leverage Softline's customer relationships to accelerate commercial traction in a way that independent funds cannot offer, making the CVC an attractive first institutional partner for B2B software founders in Russia and CIS.