The government-owned Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF, aka FRII) and Sistema SmartTeñh, a venture fund owned by AFK Sistema, a Russian technology giant, have jointly invested $800,000 in a start-up team called The Mashina, the Russian business daily Vedomosti reported.

The Mashina is a car subscription service. One can rent a motor vehicle for a month or more, and the start-up takes care of all costs associated with insurance, tax, technical maintenance, and tire shop attendance.

FRII Investment Manager Vadim Kazinets said FRII takes much stock in this market segment and believes in the team and its product’s potential. The global market for car subscription is reported to have had an impressive $3.6bn in proceeds back in 2019 and is expected to hit a $12bn mark by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 23%.

The Mashina was founded last year by Grigory Dudash who once co-founded a team behind an automatic headhunting HR system called Skillaz and by Eugene Kladovoi, the co-founder of Russia’s first car subscription start-up, Willz. The new start-up raised its initial $200,000 in September 2020 from Digital Disrupt, a venture fund established by a group of former Moscow government officials who oversaw IT development.