For BayRu, the Russian Ecommerce Leader, $4M Series C is a Boost

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Last month, BayRu, a leading ecommerce specialist connecting American goods to Russian consumers, quietly closed a $4 million Series C round. According to CEO Aaron Block, the round was led by existing investors, including global entrepreneurs, angels and family offices. BayRu has not accepted institutional investing as yet.

Americans may take for granted the variety and quality of products available to us every day. For residents of other nations, access to such goods is often difficult, if not impossible. As such, BayRu has provided Russians a way to shop American goods for six years through it’s proprietary shipping service, Dostami Express. Some of BayRu’s most popular product categories are auto parts, apparel and electronics. Since launch, the company has shipped over 250,000 products to 160 cities in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, which is made up of former Soviet Republics.

So what factors are responsible for BayRu’s success? “Two innovative founders, one huge market, a pinch of great software, a heavy helping of elbow grease and a dash of good luck,” Block says. According to him, anyone who sells products to Russia—from individuals up to corporations—is a BayRu competitor. But with this $1 billion market poised to grow sixfold over the next few years, Block says there’s room for everyone.

Though Block isn’t afraid of competitors, he’s bulking up his team anyway. He expects to hire 30 seasonal and full-time professionals by year-end; that’s on top of the dozen he hired last quarter. The funding will contribute to investments in marketing, technology and operations. But that’s not all.

In August, BayRu will expand from its Morton Grove location into an additional office at 640 N. Lasalle St. “Primarily, the office serves as a part-time workspace for our product, marketing and technology professionals who live and spend time working in the city,” Block says of the new space. “We also use it as a business development hub as we continue to grow our Russian order fulfillment business Rusify.com.”

As the America-Russia market swells, Block is bolstering his business to grow with it. And if past success is anything to draw from, it’s no wonder BayRu is leading Russian ecommerce.

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