Telegram Open Network ICO Gets Millions of Dollars in Investment
“Yes, I did, I invested $10 million of my personal funds in Telegram in January. Perhaps, I will take part in ICO Telegram, which is going to happen in March. I have not decided yet. The company is interesting and developing, and they have a good team, so I decided to invest in it”, said David Iakobashvili, one of the founders of JSC Wimm-Bill-Dann and a member of the Board of Directors of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation (ChCI RF).
According to a document, published by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 13, Pavel Durov reported to U. S. authorities that his company had attracted $850 million from 81 investors, whose names are not disclosed. However, the report said that the proceeds would be used for development of a new blockchain-based platform on the financial market called Telegram Open Network with its own cryptocurrency and Telegram messenger.
“I'm interested in the topic of a new blockchain type, I'm interested in a topic that deals with solving a number of issues on the blockchain tech, which have not been solved so far. My way of talking to such companies and with such topics is a personal investment. Then I focus more and understand more about what is happening”, Sergey Solonin, CEO and co-founder of Qiwi, stated at the Russian Investment Forum in Sochi.
Answering the question of whether it is possible to consider investment in the fintech Telegram as an investment in a Russian company or as a withdrawal of funds abroad, Solonin said that this company could be Russian, but all conditions were arranged against it.
“Unfortunately, Telegram could be a Russian company, I think if certain conditions that prevented it from being Russian were not arranged. This is very sad. I personally would really like Telegram to be a Russian company”, he added.
As we reported in January, Telegram was seeking $500 million in a private sale of tokens to large investors that month and $1.15 billion in a subsequent public ICO in March.