Russian travel site raises $11M, named ‘most innovative’ by Fast Company

Oktogo.ru (as in “okay to go”) is a site you may never have heard of, let alone used. But that’s because you’re not Russian, dummy.

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The Russian travel site — or rather, the startup that runs it — was named one of the 50 most innovative companies in the world last month by Fast Company. And innovation like that tends to attract a fair amount of investment.

Today, Oktogo is announcing it’s raised $11 million from VTB Capital, Mangrove Capital Partners, Ventech, and Victor Sazhin Group. The investment is conveniently timed to generate some buzz for the company just as many folks are starting to plan ahead for their summer vacations.

In an emailed statement, the startup told us the Russian online travel market will exceed $10 billion in 2013, up more than 40 percent from 2012. And with a million monthly uniques and a huge (PR folks said “the largest”) database of Russian hotels, as well as listings in popular spots like Rome and Prague, it says it’s poised to capture quite a bit of that market.

This funding is the startup’s third round. To date, the St. Petersburg-based company has pulled in $26 million in venture capital.

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