The Russian venture capital market contracted by 62% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, totaling just $29.3 mln, according to Vedomosti, citing a joint study by Dsight, B1, T-Bank, and Kama Flow.
The number of deals fell by 35%, to 35. The median investment size shrank nearly threefold – from $600,000 to $210,000.
At the same time, the market proved heavily dependent on a handful of large deals: the five largest rounds accounted for 82% of all investment, and the top two alone for 54%. The number of late-stage rounds dropped from nine to two, with their total volume falling by 62%, to $15.9 mln. Early-stage investment declined by 48%, to $10.4 mln.
In the seed segment – where the youngest projects secure funding – investment fell by 56%, to $2.2 mln. The decline thus affected every key stage of startup financing, not just large-scale projects. Meanwhile, the number of venture capital deals nearly equaled the number of mergers and acquisitions, signaling a marked shift by investors toward more mature assets.
“We observed this trend in last year’s statistics, and it has only intensified this year,” notes Professor Artem Genkin, Doctor of Economics, scientific editor of and contributor to the recently published White Paper on the Russian Venture Capital Market. “Investors no longer give their top managers room for error; they lack the determination or the patience to nurture promising projects from the early stages. Instead, they prefer to invest in established, straightforward businesses with highly predictable growth trajectories.”