The publisher of WomanJournal.ru, Russia’s leading female site, has raised €6 million ($7.7 million) from three French investors, as this segment hots up not just in the west but in the increasingly busy Russia, too. Milanor sold a big minority stake to Ventech, XAnge and AGF, though the size isn’t disclosed; Russian daily Kommersant (via Yakov) the company now has a €12 million ($15.4 million) valuation and the cash will be spent on improving navigation, content and new services. Milanor, which also runs luxury goods shopping offshoot LeLuxe.ru, claimed €1.5 million ($1.92 million) revenues in 2007, 150 percent over those forecast.

Pascal Mercier, who facilitated the deal for Aelios Finance, said WomensJournal.ru could be as big as Europe’s leading women’s site auFemimin, which German publisher Axel Springer bought last year for up to €282 million ($362 million). Not yet - auFeminin has been rolling out in other Euro territories and other languages, having launched SoFeminine in the UK; still, WomanJournal already has an English moniker. As the women’s content segment globally grows, Russian publisher Independent Media last year bought WomanJournal.ru rival Ameno.ru for €2.9 million while Eva.ru was looking at selling half for €2.75 million, Kommersant said. On traffic, WomanJournal leads with 1.2 million monthly uniques, ahead of Cosmo (474,200) and Ameno (438,200), according to TNS. Some 12 million Russian females use the internet monthly, according to KOM (via Yakov).

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