Moscow-based AI startup ZeBrains has raised $1 million in an investment round led by Ruslan Fazlyev, the founder of SaaS developer Ecwid, and Sergey Bulaev, the founder of media platform Lifehacker.

The project’s valuation was estimated at $8 million. ZeBrains intends to use the raised funds to increase the staff of specialists, as well as research and development in the field of artificial intelligence.

“I am very optimistic about this deal and am glad that I am joining the business and joining the board of directors of the company”, Ruslan Fazlyev told TAdviser.

According to him, the market has a huge demand for and, at the same time, a significant shortage of talent in the field of AI and mobile apps development. ZeBrains is a company that, in such conditions, builds up talent and makes it available to the market, he added.

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Ruslan Fazlyev (Ecwid) and Sergey Bulaev (Lifehacker)

ZeBrains is part of the ITECH.group headed by entrepreneur Alexander Shcherbina, who owns a 54.9% stake in it, while the company's CEO Ramil Zayneev has 25.1% and American investment companies GL Brothers and Votnet have 5% each. The overall staff includes 180 people as of August 2021.