Company:Net Element

Net Element, Inc.

File:Net Element Logo.png
Type	Public
Traded as	NASDAQ: NETE NASDAQ Composite Russell 2000 Russell 3000 Index Russell Microcap Index component
Industry	Technology
Founded	2004 (2004)
Headquarters	United States - (Miami, FL) CIS - (Moscow, Russia)
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Kenges Rakishev (Chairman) Oleg Firer (Chief Executive Officer)
Services	Mobile Payments, Payment Services, Financial Services,
Number of employees	96 (2013)
Website	www.netelement.com

Net Element, Inc. (NASDAQ: NETE) is an American company in the mobile payments sector in emerging markets and in the United States .

The company owns and operates a global mobile payments and transaction processing provider, TOT Group, Inc. (“TOT Group”). TOT Group companies include Unified Payments, recognized by Inc. Magazine as the #1 Fastest Growing Private Company in America in 2012, Aptito, a next generation cloud-based point of sale payments platform and TOT Money, a leading provider of mobile payments, SMS messaging and mobile billing solutions.

The company has U.S. headquarters in Miami, Florida and international headquarters in Moscow, Russia .

History

Net Element International, Inc. (“Net Element International”) was incorporated on April 20, 2010 as a Cayman Islands exempted company with limited liability under the name Cazador Acquisition Corporation Ltd. (“Cazador”). Cazador was a blank check company incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share capital exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more operating businesses or assets.

On October 2, 2012, Net Element International completed a merger (the “Merger”) with Net Element, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Net Element”), which was a company with businesses in the online media and mobile commerce payment processing markets. Immediately prior to the effectiveness of the Merger, Net Element International (then known as Cazador Acquisition Corporation Ltd.) changed its jurisdiction of incorporation by discontinuing as an exempted company in the Cayman Islands and continuing and domesticating as a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware. Effective upon consummation of the Merger, (i) Net Element was merged with and into Net Element International, resulting in Net Element ceasing to exist and Net Element International continuing as the surviving company in the Merger, and (ii) the Company changed its name to Net Element International. Following the Merger, Net Element International’s business consists of the former business of Net Element.

On October 4, 2012, Net Element International rang an opening bell on NASDAQ MarketSite to celebrate its Initial Public Offering (“IPO”), which took place on Thursday, October 4, 2012. Net Element International’s common stock began trading on NASDAQ Capital Market Exchange under the symbol “NETE".

During the third quarter of 2012, Net Element International’s subsidiary, TOT Money, launched operations as a provider of carrier-integrated mobile payments solutions in Russia. Since then, TOT Money has continued seeking to expand its carrier-integrated mobile payments business primarily in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries (participating states of the former Soviet Union) and other emerging markets. During the second half of 2012, TOT Money entered into contracts with the three largest mobile phone operators in Russia, Mobile TeleSystems OJSC, MegaFon OJSC and OJSC VimpelCom, to facilitate payments using SMS and MMS for their mobile phone subscribers in Russia.

On December 20, 2013, Net Element's Chief Executive Officer Oleg Firer rang a closing bell on NASDAQ MarketSite. This event marks the one-year anniversary of Net Element's NASDAQ listing, and is coincident with a change in the company's focus to a global technology group powering global commerce through value-added services.

On September 25, 2013, Net Element International, Inc. completed divestiture of its non-core sports and entertainment assets, which include Openfilm, LLC, Motorsport, LLC, Splinex, LLC, LegalGuru, LLC and Music 1, LLC. Net Element International, Inc. retained 10% interest in the disposed entities through participation in T1T Lab, LLC. Disposition of non-core assets allows Net Element International to focus on the segment of the business that generates the most revenues and that the Company believes has the greatest growth potential and facilitates the promotion of its intellectual assets and business relationships that are substantial competitive differentiators.

On February 14, 2014, Net Element, Inc. announced that the Company has transferred its 10% interest in T1T Lab, LLC back to T1T, LLC, and as a result, Net Element is thereby relieved all of its commitments and obligations to T1T, including its obligation to commit $1,259,000 associated with that ownership interest.

On December 9, 2013, as a result of the Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on December 5, 2013, Net Element International, Inc. changed its corporate name to Net Element, Inc.

On May 27, 2015, Net Element executed definitive documentation to acquire online payments innovator Payonline. Acquisition expected to be profitable in 2015 and provide important growth catalyst to Net Element business.

On June 24, 2013, Net Element International's subsidiary TOT Group completed the acquisition of Aptito, a next-generation, cloud-based payments platform, which creates an online consumer experience into offline commerce environments via tablet, mobile and all other cloud-connected devices.

On April 16, 2013, certain subsidiaries of Net Element International's subsidiary TOT Group, Inc. ("TOT Group") acquired substantially all of the business assets of Unified Payments, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Unified Payments”). Unified Payments provides comprehensive turnkey, payment-processing solutions to small and medium size business owners (merchants) and independent sales organizations across the United States.

Number	Acquisition date	Company	Business	Country	Price	Used as or integrated with	Ref(s).
1	2013	Unified Payments	Payment Services	USA	N/A	Transactional Services
2	2013	Aptito	Value-Added Services	USA	N/A	Value-Added Transactional Services
3	2015	Payonline	Payment Services	RUS	$8.4MM	Transactional Services

Expansions

• In April 2015, TAS Group and Net Element entered into a strategic partnership to develop EMV solutions, card management systems and mobile payment technologies for U.S., Latin America and selected global markets.
• In March 2015, Net Element launched joint venture to focus on Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and India.
• In March 2015, Net Element's TOT Money achieved a record milestone of over 1 million recurring mobile payment subscribers.
• In March 2013, as part of its international expansion strategy, Net Element expands TOT’s Mobile connectivity reach for mobile messaging and mobile payments across additional 39 emerging countries.
• May 2013: Net Element announced its plans to invest in mobile payments technologies. Multi-Year agreement with Skolkovo Foundation and multimillion-dollar investment allocation provides Net Element with exclusive access to early stage mobile payments and transactional services technologies.
• July 2013: TOT Group announced entry into a Latin America market by sponsoring Formula 4 driver Pietro Fittipaldi to promote "The Speed of Payments".
• October 2013: Net Element announced launch of TOT Platform, its value-added transactional services platform in Russia.
• October 2013: Net Element announced expansion to Ukraine. Launch of TOT Group Ukraine will focus on value-added transaction services in this growing region.
• November 2013: TOT Group Ukraine partnered with PrivatBank to introduce "value-added transactional products" in Ukraine.

Board of directors

Net Element's current board of directors:

• Kenges Rakishev (Chairman)
• Oleg Firer (Chief Executive Officer)
• Howard Ash
• Drew Freeman
• James Caan