Verysell Group History

Esther Dyson was kind of godmother for Verysell. She introduced Mikhail Krasnov – VerySell co-founder to the other co-founders and to Bill Gates. Microsoft was a key partner of Verysell for over 20 years.

Moscow, 1991. The team in front of the first office of JV Merisel.

Moscow, 1999. The first logo of Verysell, after the change of name from Merisel to Verysell.

Few remember now, that in the 90s software distribution meant boxes of floppy disks

What was considered as advanced IT technology in the early days of Verysell.

Celebrating 25th anniversary of Verysell in 2015.

Verysell is headquartered in Nyon, Switzerland since 1990.

SmartDev LLC is located in Da Nang, Vietnam.

The new logo of Verysell has been introduced in 2020.

Verysell Ventures – the in-house incubator – launched in 2020. VeryPay is the first graduate.

The second in-house start-up was formed in 2021 in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Freaking Bombers: The first game of VeryPlay Studio!

1990 - 1998

This period saw the creation of JV Merisel, a Swiss-American-Soviet joint venture headquartered in the Swiss town of Nyon, with its main operational office in Moscow and subsidiaries in Saint Petersburg, Kiev, and Almaty. The main shareholder of JV Merisel was Merisel Inc – the largest global distributor of IT hardware and software at the time. During the 1990’s, JV Merisel (supported by its strategic investor) grew to be the leading IT technology products distributor across the former Soviet Union. Along with its growth, JV Merisel brough previously unavailable IT products to millions of people across the former USSR region, supplying a region covering 11 time zones from West to East.

1999-2010

Following a shift in corporate strategy, Merisel Inc decide to exit all operations in Europe (including ex-USSR). As a result, JV Merisel was rebranded into Verysell Group and diversified its business away from basic distribution. Verysell Group evolved into a full-range IT service firm working for enterprise clients to create turn-key IT infrastructure solutions, ERP consulting, and application software development. For 7 consecutive years, starting in 2004, Verysell ranked among the top 10 largest IT holdings in Russia - its largest market in the former Soviet Union region. Verysell was a leading value-added partner for many of the largest global IT companies, including Microsoft, HP, IBM, Cisco, and Intel.

2011

Verysell Group sold its core business — Verysell Distribution — to Merlion Group, one of the largest wide-range distributors in Eastern Europe. Verysell further reorganized to adapt to the evolution of the Global IT industry.

2012-2017

Verysell continued its operations in the sectors of industrial automation and IT systems integration, until the reorganization of the group was complete.
Since 2017 Verysell has no operations, subsidiaries, or staffs in Russia.

2018-2019

Following the definite end to its operations in Russian and the former USSR region, Verysell retained its headquarters in Switzerland. The group’s geographic focus shifted to Europe, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Verysell’s service and product offering was adapted to IT markets current pressing needs, such as outsourced software development and FinTech. To support its new business direction, Verysell acquired the Vietnamese ODC company SmartDev LLC.

2020

Verysell launched Verysell Ventures as its in-house incubator for start-ups. VeryPay became the first project of Verysell Ventures. VeryPay is a proprietary mobile payments platform – the most cost-efficient solution for financial inclusion worldwide targeting booming digital wallets African market.

2021

Verysell Ventures added a mobile game studio to its portfolio by creating VeryPlay Studio based in Hanoi (Vietnam).

Q1-3 2022

Active development and growth have continued along all business lines of Verysell Group. SmartDev has been recognized as one fastest growing IT companies in Vietnam (SME 100 Award 2021). VeryPay began development on two Proof of Concept POC contracts with major enterprise clients in Africa. VeryPlay Studio has published its first game - Freaking Bombers.

Verysell Group Companies