Cinarra Systems, a pioneer in operator analytics and monetization technologies, today announced a $4.5M Series A round of venture capital and strategic financing. The funding will enable Cinarra Systems to expand its team, accelerate product development and successfully deliver new products to market. The round was led by Almaz Capital, with participation from Cisco and individual investors. Geoffrey Baehr, a general partner at Almaz Capital, will join the company's board.

'Cinarra is addressing a long-standing fundamental problem in mobile Internet economics spanning mobile network operators and application platforms,' said Cinarra co-founder and CEO Alex Zinin. 'The new funding, the addition of networking pioneer Geoffrey Baehr to our board, and Cisco as the strategic investor will allow the company to attract new talent and position Cinarra as a strategic player in the new mobile Internet economy.'

Cinarra Systems is a startup founded by Internet technology expert and Bell Labs Fellow Alex Zinin and Russian entrepreneur Alexander Nikolaev. The company develops technologies and platform services for wireless and mobile network operators that are moving beyond connectivity as the primary business model, are actively pursuing new revenue streams and are looking for innovative ways to integrate into the Internet applications ecosystem. Cinarra's solution is based on a unique architecture that unlocks the value of data within the mobile operator infrastructure and monetizes it via Cinarra's mediation platform that enables cross-industry integration.

'The mobile Internet industry today is in the same situation as the Web in the early 2000s before the arrival of Google,' said Geoffrey Baehr, general partner at Almaz Capital. 'Cinarra's approach will have a profound effect on the mobile Internet economy. Cinarra's founding team brings visionary leadership and deep industry knowledge. This combined with Cinarra's unique architecture provides significant differentiation and value.'

Headquartered in Menlo Park, California, Cinarra has team presence in Singapore, USA, and Russia, leveraging engineering talent across the world including Silicon Valley and Kazan. Cinarra Russia is a member of the Russian 'Skolkovo' initiative, also known as the 'Russian Silicon Valley' -- an effort by the Russian government in collaboration with technology companies such as Cisco, Intel, and Microsoft to support technology entrepreneurs in the country.

Cisco's investment in Cinarra is in line with commitments dating back to 2010 to drive entrepreneurship and sustainable innovation in Russia, including commitment to the Skolkovo Project.

'Cinarra Systems is a truly international startup founded by entrepreneurs who successfully combine Russian and American talent and ingenuity,' said Alexander Galitsky, general partner at Almaz Capital. 'We believe Cinarra is well positioned to be the next international success story, continuing in the trail-blazing tradition of Russian entrepreneurs who founded Yandex, Kaspersky Labs, and Parallels.'

About Cinarra Systems
Cinarra Systems is a technology startup founded in 2012, and developing advanced technologies for real-time mobile data analytics and monetization in collaboration with mobile network operators and Internet application platforms. Cinarra's analytics software architecture, designed from ground up with carrier requirements in mind, is able to process large amounts of operator data and build in real time unique data insights that are then be monetized using Cinarra's mediation platform. Cinarra has offices in Silicon Valley, Kazan Russia, and Singapore. For more information, visit http://www.cinarra.com.

About Almaz Capital
Founded in 2008, the Almaz Capital team practices a 'geo-connect strategy' focused on early and expansion stage venture investments in high-growth tech sectors including enterprise and cloud computing, mobile, internet infrastructure and services, data storage and management, and ecommerce with an emphasis on Series A rounds in capital efficient businesses. Almaz Capital investors include Cisco, EBRD and IFC. The following companies are among Almaz Capital's realized exits over the last three years: Qik, acquired by Skype in 2011; Yandex, IPO 2011; and Vyatta, acquired by Brocade in 2012. Almaz Capital has offices in Silicon Valley and in Moscow. For more information, please visit http://www.almazcapital.com.