This and next week, East-West Digital News reviews the most important developments which took place on the Russian high-tech scene in 2015. Today’s article explains why and how Russian startups sought to develop on global markets.
In 2015, Russia’s problematic international image did not seem to affect the reputation of Russian tech talents on the global high tech scene. Among the brightest examples was N-Tech Lab, a Russian startup which won a world championship in face recognition organized in December by the University of Washington. Its solution was judged even better than that of Google.
Facing insufficient development opportunities and blurry exit prospects in their homeland, a number of Russian startups made all possible efforts to develop internationally. Thus in November CardsMobile, a provider of contactless payment solutions, announced a partnership with UK startup Tedipay to create a secure platform for mobile payments and smart transit ticketing. The partners will put $9 million in the project.
Earlier in 2015 Darta Systems, a Russian-Canadian biomedical startup, launched a connected watch that measures stress and makes stress management easier – a feature that Apple failed to include in its much-touted watch.
RetailRocket, which developed an e-commerce personalization technology, entered the Belgian, Dutch and Italian markets after several years of development on the domestic markets. The Russian startup claims its technology quickly attracted some major players in its new European markets.
Russian startups were also encouraged to develop in Latin America via Chile, Brazil and Cuba in particular.
International development with government backing
In their international effort, Russian startups received support from Russian venture funds and accelerators. Thus Spinup Ventures organized soft landing in Singapore while Starta Capital opened an accelerator in New York City. Others programs were launched by, or in partnership with, foreign players, such as NUMA Moscow, the Russian branch of a leading French accelerator, and GVA Launch Guru, which works with Californian players.
The international expansion of Russian startups was also supported by state-backed institutions. Thus Skolkovo took its startups to India, South Korea and Singapore, while IT-Park, a major technopark in Kazan, organized a Russian startup tour across Serbia, Turkey and the UAE.
The US-Russia Innovation Corridor (USRIC), created in 2013, managed to survive amid the current international tensions. In November, USRIC organized a business tour in Philadelphia and Washington DC for Russian medical technology startups to meet US players.
However, the arbitrary dismissal of Kendrick White, who played an important role in connecting Russian innovators to the global markets, cast doubt on Russia’s capacity to keep this business field aside from its negative domestic political developments. A prominent US investor who settled in Russia in the 1990s, White became a target of a witch hunt which reminded dark periods of Soviet rule.
A new wave of emigration
Meanwhile, a growing number of Russian startups and startup entrepreneurs leaved their country, the USA being their primary destination. Among countless examples are Igor Gladkoborodov, who co-founded an online-video startup in Russia before moving, this past summer, to Silicon Valley, and Sergey Gusev, co-founder of Russian social commerce site SocialMart, who is now developing a subscription-based e-commerce offer in the field of perfumes in New York.
Another example is Sailplay, a marketing automation platform launched in Russia in 2012. Last year the founders Leonid Shangin and Yakov Philippenko moved to New York with their company and families, as reported by Forbes Russia. They expect US clients to generate 70% of the platform’s revenues by the end of 2016.
Nat Gadzhibalaev, whose companies provide web development services and social media publishing solutions, also moved to Silicon Valley in 2015. “Not because we don’t like Russia, but because there are practically no more interesting projects left there,” he said in an exchange with Russian tech blog Firrma.ru.
