Tiger Global acquires 50% of Russian online mall Wikimart for $5m

Private equity firm Tiger Global Management has acquired a 50% stake in Russian online mall Wikimart, reports local newspaper Vedomosti (via blog Quintura). The deal actually took place in May, according to the report but only came to light recently.

Wikimart targets countries in the previous Soviet Union, letting individuals and small retailers set up shop online, offering features such as an order-fulfillment interface, accounting and legal support, and ecommerce marketing tools. It’s free to set up a store, but the company charges a 3 percent transaction fee per sale.

Founded in June 2008 by by Russian entrepreneurs Maxim Faldin and Kamil Kurmakayev (both Stanford MBA students), Wikimart didn’t launch until February 2009. It now claims over 2,000 online merchants that offer over 410,000 products, generating a turnover of $1.5 million.

In June 2009, Wikimart raised $0.7m from a group of Western business angel investors, according to Quintura.