RVC, the Russian state-owned fund of funds dedicated to innovation, and RZD (Russian Railways) have teamed up to launch to two venture funds for industrial and digital investments.
Scheduled for launch in 2021, the funds will support early-stage projects which have “the potential of developing synergies with the railways company and increasing its business efficiency.”
The first fund will target a wide array of transportation technologies, including tech equipments, new materials, robotics, 3D printing, additive technologies, quantum communications and green tech.
The second one will focus on the digitalization of the transportation industry. This may include such projects as IT solutions for freight or passenger transportation, IoT, Big Data, business analytics and forecast, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
RVC and RZD expect industrial and financial partners to invest in these funds, the size of which has not been announced.
Earlier this year RZD Technologies, a digital transformation project office of RZD, and RT Invest, a subsidiary of the defense conglomerate Rostec, announced plans to create a JV and a venture fund to support IT projects on transport. Among the pilots to be supported by the fund might be projects related to cross-border cargo shipments between Russia and China.
Source: RVC
