Privet! VentureBeat is in Moscow — tell us what’s cool

MOSCOW — Russian capital Moscow is known for many things: majestic architecture, politics, and its concentration of the world’s billionaires, to name a few. Another thing it is becoming known for? Its burgeoning tech scene.

In Russia, underdog businesses often beat larger players. For example, social networking powerhouse VK (formerly Vkontakte) beats Facebook in Russian users and search engine Yandex has more Russian users than Google with 60 percent market share. On the mobile side, you might remember that monster mobile game Cut the Rope from “Russian Rovio” ZeptoLab.

But we know there’s a lot more happening here. We’ll be reporting on startups and general tech activity happening in Moscow for the next few days, starting with coverage today and tomorrow of DEMO Europe. The event will include appearances by TechStars co-founder and CEO David Cohen, Mailbox CEO Gentry Underwood, Medialets CEO Eric Litman, Yandex Music head Konstantin Vorontsov, and more.

While we’re here, we plan to meet with a few Russian and European tech companies, see how Russia’s technology scene differentiates itself from Europe and the U.S., and look for bold new ideas coming from the region.

So we’re asking VentureBeat’s trusted readers to make a few suggestions. Tell us what companies in Moscow and Russia you think are making waves and why we should give them a little time. Tell us what other aspects of Russian technology culture deserve our attention.

We look forward to your suggestions and getting to know this scene a bit better.

Disclosure: DEMO Europe paid for the airfare and hotel in Moscow so we could cover the event. Our coverage remains objective.

Top photo via Sean Ludwig/VentureBeat