Since the beginning of 2013, the Microsoft Seed Fund has provided a total of $110,000 in grants to two startups from Russia’s regions.
A $50,000 grant went to RealSpeaker, a startup from Kazan, Tatarstan, which offers a new approach to speech recognition. The company also recently received financing from Startobaza, a local seed-stage investment company, along with a grant from Skolkovo, the giant innovation hub nearing completion on the outskirts of Moscow.
Another $60,000 grant went to MD.Voice, an innovative product developed by a start-up in Tomsk, Siberia. The MD.Voice research team, run by students, has created a mobile application that lets patients take a simple voice test that can provide early warnings of larynx disorders, including the possibility of cancer of the larynx.
If the test detects alarming acoustic dynamics in the user’s voice, the app recommends a visit to a physician for a more thorough examination.
Since its inception 2010, the Microsoft Seed Fund has already provided more than $1 million to 23 Russian projects. The fund’s goal is to support 100 Russian startups in 10 years.
Source: Microsoft
