Sergey Azatyan and Anton Inshutin Fund InVenture Partners sold its stake in the startup Busfor. The buyer was Elbrus Capital and Baring Vostok. The transaction price is unknown. According to Inshutin, the fund managed to get out of the project with a profit. It is known that in 2014 InVenture Partners together with Intel Capital and Finsight Ventures invested $ 3 million into the start-up, and in 2016 Intel Capital and Finsight Ventures bought out Elbrus Capital and Baring Vostok for $ 20 million. Also, Azatyan's fund expanded its influence.

Now Busfor is estimated at $ 50 million, while a year ago experts called numbers an order of magnitude higher: $ 60-80 million. With a small forecasted annual revenue - about $ 2-3 million - even the current figure seems overvalued. So Azatyan seems to have left the game on time - given that the grandiose plans of the authors of the project, aimed at Russia, failed.

But only people from the investment sphere have been whispering for a long time: Azatyan chooses profitable projects for himself, and the vacant "dummies" "vparivayet" for the remaining investors. And from the recipients of these investments, who will then "go nowhere," he supposedly gets a percentage ... But here, of course, the situation is different. It is much easier to invest in a project, then withdraw money. And then resell your share in anyone unnecessary and already far from profitable asset to anyone - just to be faster and with interest.

Not Uber

Initially, Busfor was conceived as a resource for the sale of online tickets for intercity buses. The startup was called Uber in the world of bus transportation. An advertising transport was rolling around the cities - beautiful red buses, seemingly new and comfortable. "Finish" customers decided to chip in the form of tickets between Moscow and St. Petersburg for 99 rubles. People prayed for Busfor and, of course, they did not forget about the likes, sheres, reposts.

And then it turned out that the new buses are a fiction, and the passengers carry the same PIs on old PAZs. The cost of the ticket grew quite quickly to 1200, and even 1600 rubles. Moreover, problems began in the relationship with the ticket offices at the bus stations and the carriers themselves: two people could buy tickets for the same place, and no one could do anything about it. Or about the cancellation of the flight reported on the fact, throwing people at night on a stop.

The extra charge for this service is not small - about 15%. Yes, ticket offices at bus stations sell tickets not much cheaper, but ... Given that now the ticket for intercity bus in some Russian cities can be bought through the online cash desk of the bus station, and not through the aggregator, the meaning of such a project is generally lost. And now this "charm" Mr. Azatyan "vparivaet" investment funds ...

Investment Wizard

However, evil tongues say that Azatyan has a real talent: he can sell the product of human life without even wrapping it in a piece of paper. And his long experience in the field of venture investments speaks about this. InVenture Partners was launched in February 2012: the first fund - according to the Soviet tradition, for a five-year plan - was $ 70 million. Some of them were invested in the Gett taxi service - and so far, in fact, this is the only project in which Azatyan and the second partner of the Inshutin Foundation did not fail.

So, a year ago, InVenture Partners announced that they had high hopes for investment in American Well: in 2015, investors from the fund invested $ 5 million there. Another $ 5 million fund was involved in the project to sell watches of elite brands Chronext. Another $ 3 million were invested in Deiver.ru - again a project in the field of long-distance traffic.

But the question arises: where does the money come from? According to rumors, Azatyan promises a lot and attracts investors. Those bring blood extracted millions, and then lose them, because the project "did not burn out." A businessman has a good interest from the recipient of investments. It is rumored that by the same principle he attracted investors to buy Russian versions of the magazines Cosmo, Grazia and Esquire: they were bought from the Finnish media group Sanoma for 18 million euros! That's only buyers did not know that the Finns bear million losses in connection with the lack of demand for the Russian gloss ... And they did not know how to get rid of the asset. And, according to some information, they shared the profit from the deal with Azatyan, who found buyers.

But, according to rumors, Azatyan is involved in larger cases. So, he is associated with the ex-Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Georgy Sazhinov, who was declared wanted. He according to official data "heated up" his partner in Nutritek Group of Companies for 91 million rubles, and he allegedly withdrew money from Azatyan. He, it seems like, helped to get a loan for a front company, and then "saw" the money received. Rumors have it that businessmen have earned so much, about $ 100 million!

Family affairs

At the same time, it is still rumored that Azatyan is working with his wife. Tanya Azatyan own brand of jewelry Ambler Jewelery. Bohemia, by the way, for some reason believes that the glittering baubles from the Azatians have magical properties, and she is glad to take three times as much from them. But, despite the dissatisfaction of the customers' husbands, the business is booming - it's usually difficult to catch someone on the trade with a nonexistent "appendage" to the items. But the fact that the jewelry company, according to rumors, helped create a very profitable manipulation with Nutritek - the act is already punishable. True, while unproven.

Husband and wife, one of Satan?

A married couple picks up clients at the parties: secular people, who are well versed in jewelry, but who do not understand investments are their contingent. Here and lure - someone on rings, bracelets, someone on the promise of an eight-figure profit. Only promises for some reason do not come true - well, what can you do about it.

By the way, in 2017 the first "five-year plan" of InVenture Partners expired. This means that it's time to collect a second-level fund - and Azatyan intends to receive at least 150 million dollars for it. By the way, they plan to invest primarily in Berlin, London and Tel Aviv. Is it because, in that, where they were "heated" by foreign projects, it will be more difficult for Russian investors to understand?