The sizable agricultural and industrial region of Voronezh, some 500km south of Moscow, is expected to host GlassHouse, the first venture accelerator for IT projects in the entire Russian “Black Earth” region along the border with Ukraine.
The accelerator will feature a premium-class office center and is designed to foster the rapid development of high-tech startups, providing access to “a partner network of 50 VC funds and angel investors with an aggregate investment capacity of more than $2 billion.”
Services will include business mentoring, a startup development primer, professional product development and marketing, the preparation of a business model and growth strategy, assistance in doing paperwork to apply for funding, etc.
The new IT accelerator is expected to join the Voronezh region’s broader IT cluster development project, which was approved this past October, and will seek backing from an array of small business support organizations at the federal level.
