Alexander Chachava
Alexander Chachava (Александр Анатольевич Чачава — рус., born October 27, 1979, Tbilisi, GSSR) is an international serial tech entrepreneur, investor, and managing partner at LETA Capital, a technology investment firm.[1] His intent is to help Russian-speaking entrepreneurs globally (they might be immigrants or citizens of post-Soviet countries) succeed the way he did, and in the process bring the world some very exciting companies and disruptive technologies.[2]
Biography[edit]
Alexander Chachava was born in Tbilisi in 1979. In 1994 he moved to Moscow with his family. In 1997 he entered the Moscow State University of Food Production instead of the planned VMiK of Moscow State University, which, as he used to say, he does not regret.[3] He began his career while studying at the university and by the end of 2000, at the time of the beginning of cooperation with "Infobusiness", Russian business media, he had experience of working as a storekeeper, waiter, traveling salesman, sales consultant, technical translator, etc. In November 2000 he began to work simultaneously as a copywriter on the Infobusiness website and in one Internet project of the Extra-M Publishing House. Six months later he devoted himself entirely to Infobusiness.[4]
In May 2002, he began to cooperate with the Consulting Department of RBC, continuing to write articles for Infobusiness and CIO. In addition, he recruited his brother to work in the publishing house "Computerra". Leaving his career as a journalist, Chachava began his career as an IT analyst. But after another couple of years, the charms of a calm, predictable career of a hired manager somehow faded. An idea arose to create an IT company.[5]
Career as an entrepreneur and an investor[edit]
In 2003 Chachava became the co-founder of LETA with a starting capital of $5,000 and two co-founders, Sergey Piltsov and Anton Sokolov. 5 years later LETA had become one of the 100 largest IT companies in Russia.[6] In 2005 Chachava founded the Russian branch of the international company ESET as it entered the Russian market. ESET’s NOD32 antivirus was one of the leaders in the Russian market for several years, reaching second place and attaining a market share of almost 30%. ESET Russia now exclusively develops ESET’s business in 11 countries, most successfully in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus.
In connection with the acceptance of a new development strategy, Alexander Chachava created the LETA Group holding company in 2008 and assumed the position of president. He acted as an investor in a number of successful IT projects that were then purchased by LETA Group.[7] These included significant shares of Group-IB, ASK, Damask, and Avanpost. Despite the Russian financial crisis, the company’s revenue structure changed significantly over the next three years, and its rate of return more than doubled. Damask, Avanpost, and Group-IB, which were purchased by LETA, became leaders in their segments of the Russia market – front desk automation, IDM, and cybercrime investigation respectively. LETA Group grew to 500 employees and $100 million in annual revenue.
In 2012 LETA Group was restructured in order to increase the investment attractiveness and capitalization of its leading companies. LETA Group was divided into a distributor of ESET Russia, LETA Engineering, Damask, Avanpost, and Group-IB. The restructuring gave them the opportunity to develop more effectively, and all companies continue to thrive and lead in their market segments. Alexander Chachava subsequently sold his share of Group-IB while retaining various shares of ownership in other companies.
Same year he founded LETA Capital, a technology-focused venture capital firm with investments covering a wide range of B2B software startups focused on international markets. So far LETA Capital has made more than 20 investments, including such successful companies as Bright Box, Unomy, 365Scores, Double Data, DevAR, QMarkets, and inDriver.[8] LETA Capital made three exits in 2017, including selling Unomy to WeWork and Bright Box to Zurich Insurance Group.
In 2021 LETA Capital has launched its third and largest fund to date with the intention to invest over $100 million in U.K., European, and U.S.-based, growth-stage tech companies founded by Russian-speaking entrepreneurs over the next three years.[9] Its focus will be seed, A and B-round investments. It intends to invest in the range of $2-5 million and will be focused on software, IT and internet technologies.
Other[edit]
Alexander Chachava is also the executive chairman of the board of a range of companies from LETA’s portfolio and a member of the world’s largest business leaders’ community, YPO. Alexander Chachava wrote the LETA Capital Manifesto, where he explains, why he decided to invest in international technology startups founded by Russian-speaking entrepreneurs.[10] Alexander Chachava is a contibutor at TechCrunch[11], Forbes[12] and other business and tech media.
Reference section[edit]
- ↑ "LETA Capital - Crunchbase Investor Profile & Investments". Crunchbase. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
- ↑ "Are Eastern European startups overlooked and undervalued?". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-10-14.
- ↑ "Александр Чачава. Через антивирусы к звёздам. От простой профессии до компании с оборотом $100 млн. - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
- ↑ "Чачава Александр Анатольевич". TAdviser.ru. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
- ↑ ""Мне нравится ощущать себя простым человеком". Правила потребления основателя LETA Capital Александра Чачавы". Forbes.ru (in русский). Retrieved 2021-02-04.
- ↑ "Интернет-издание о высоких технологиях". www.cnews.ru. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
- ↑ "Main LETA Capital". en.leta.vc. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
- ↑ "Projects LETA Capital". en.leta.vc. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
- ↑ "$100 million… Leta Capital wants to be a friend to Russian-speaking founders everywhere". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-10-14.
- ↑ Chachava, Alex (2020-04-10). "Leta Capital Manifesto". Medium. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
- ↑ "Are Eastern European startups overlooked and undervalued?". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-10-14.
- ↑ "Александр Чачава". Forbes.ru (in русский). Retrieved 2021-10-14.
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