Startup Village, a major industry event held last week at the Skolkovo international tech hub, greeted more than 10,000 participants: Russian and foreign entrepreneurs, investors, venture fund representatives and government officials, including Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
Over the course of two days, the Startup Village came as the ultimate stage of a road show through which Russian innovation related institutions had been looking for the best innovation ideas in 12 Russian cities.
Experts at the Startup Village recommended that companies think “globally,” and not orient themselves exclusively towards import substitution. Skolkovo Foundation’s Vice President Vasily Belov stated that no fewer than 89 Skolkovo resident companies currently sell their products abroad.
“Just a few years ago Russia did not have a startup environment or infrastructure for their development,” said Sitnikov. “Often the technologies that Russian companies offer are the best of their kind. The only question is whether or not they can be commercialized abroad.”
Today Russian startup companies have an enormous selection of platforms for their development. At the Startup Village techno park representatives from Spain, Turkey, Singapore, Japan, the U.S. and many other countries spoke about their opportunities. Before entering foreign markets “it is important to get a strong foundation in your own country,” said Susanne Burkeholder, director of the Huston Technology Center, one of Skolkovo’s partners.
“What makes a startup land in Russia?” Burkeholder remarks. “It is the support system, which Skolkovo definitely has. The innovation center’s collaborators have a very high level of competency. Something unique is developing here. Therefore Russia is an excellent place to establish a company,” she said enthusiastically.
In search of investors and partners
Over 1,000 investors from all over the world registered at the Startup Village conference. On the first day alone 14 agreements were signed with a total value of 13 billion rubles.
Thus the Skolkovo Foundation announced a partnership with Alibaba’s local branch to create the AliExpress Challenge for B2C microelectronics solutions. A memorandum of understanding is to be signed by the two parties at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum later this month.
On its side Ivideon, a Skolkovo startup whose cloud platform allows users to beam video to any device using almost any hardware configuration, agreed a $4 million capital injection with Russian venture fund Impulse VC.
Smaller deals took place on the sidelines, sometimes even during the startups’ pitch sessions.
“Do you understand that to test your antitumor apparatus and then try to enter a market, you will need to invest much, much more?” a jury member asked a representative of a regional startup that presented their idea at the Biomed competition. There were some questions from the audience. Then an intellectual property consultant from a large Korean company stood up and asked: “How much do you need for your development?” The representative said $10,000. It was in such an informal atmosphere that potential deals were hashed out.
Approximately 350 teams participated in a competition to attract investments for their projects. A total of 26 startups made it to the final round and there were three winners. The Graviton project won first place, which offers sensors for security systems. The Tektum project came in second place, a product offering a hemostatic device. The bronze medal was given to RealTarget, a new immunotherapy method for treating oncological disease.
International cooperation without French cheese
The main obstacle for Russian startups today is the economic sanctions and the political environment. According to a Finnish participant, many Finnish companies that were interested in Russian startups and wanted to enter the Russian market had to postpone their expansion.
However, the 40 foreign diplomats visiting Startup Village all seemed to agree that, technology should stay “outside of politics.”
American Ambassador John Tefft reminded everyone that half a dozen of large American companies, including Microsoft, IBM and Boeing, are among the innovation center’s partners.
Although he was disappointed by the absence of French cheese at the food court, French ambassador to Russia Jean-Maurice Ripert underlined than France had been involved since the very beginning in Skolkovo project.
“We would like to extend our cooperation in education, innovation and research. This is why the first French Tech Tour is taking place right here, right now” he stated.
“France is the second country in Europe for international patterns and the 6th in the world. We are the first in Europe for business startups,” the ambassador added.
Dmitry Politov of the Skolkovo Foundation answered that “France is one of our most important partners. France is not only wine and cheese, it is actually one of the most important countries in Europe driving innovations and I believe that if there is a company which aims to take a look at a market abroad, it should definitely take a look at the French market first and foremost.”
In a round table on the tech connections between France and Russia, public and private investors from both countries, together with large and small companies, shared experience about the latest digital trends. They discussed how public and private initiatives can help stimulate innovation and start up ecosystems in both France and Russia.
“There are already two French Tech Hubs abroad (in San Francisco and Boston) and we hope that the next one will be in Moscow. Our aim is to federate, accelerate and promote startups,” said Elisabeth Puissant, whose agency Business France promotes French businesses internationally.
This story is an adapted version of an article which appeared in Russia Beyond the Headlines, an international source of political, business and cultural news and analysis.
