Russian investment firm Finam invested US$10 million in IM+, a mobile messaging app with 17.5 million users and 800 million mobile ad impressions per month.

In a statement, Finam said it will launch a joint venture with Shape Services, the company behind IM+, to launch a version of the plus.im web messenger targeting the “fast growing Russian market.”

"We have a deep understanding of the mobile applications market, and IM+ is one of the best and most popular universal communications platforms for young people. It's particularly important that IM+ is well connected with all leading social communication networks, and our mission is to solidify IM+'s positions in the universal Internet messenger sector," said Dmitry Smirnov, CEO of the Finam Private Equity Fund.

Igor Berezovsky, founder of IM+, said: "With the new release of Beep in-app push messenger, IM+ allows people to save on SMS and MMS while simultaneously chat on Facebook, Skype, Google Talk and tweet. In the first weeks after release Beep got half a million users and we see endless opportunities for growth.”