Last week Skolkovo, the international tech hub on the outskirts of Moscow, announced the launch of GreenTech Startup Booster, presenting it as a first in Russia.
The program is intended for companies or teams with ready-made products or prototypes of solutions that tackle environmental issues. Skolkovo expects “over 500 applicants” Six themes are covered: reducing negative impacts on water, earth and air, clean energy, monitoring the surrounding environment, and human and environmental health.
The GreenTech Startup Booster selection process is open to Russian and foreign startups, scientific teams, providers of solutions and equipments. It will go on until December 2020 and applications will be accepted until October 3. Pilot projects are scheduled for the first quarter of next year.
The goals of this accelerator, explains Skolkovo, are to “implement green technologies in key industrial sectors,” “unite business, science and the state in solving environmental problems” and, “most importantly, implement a global model of sustainable development.”
To maximize the impact of this initiative, Skolkovo has enrolled a variety of partners, including:
- On the Russian side: the Moscow Agency of Innovations, MSP Bank, Green Patrol, Business Russia, the Moscow Innovation Cluster, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, the Innovation Promotion Foundation, the Russian Carbon Fund, the Russian Environmental Society, as well as several Russian universities and ministries.
- On the international side: WIPO Green, Climate-KIC, the International Association of Science Parks (IASP) and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).
Among the first participating corporations are Russian Sibur, NLMK, Helyx, Severstal, Tatneft, Gazprom Neft, TMK as well as ENEL, EDF, and Total.
“The environmental agenda is one of the Innovation Center’s priorities,” said Arkady Dvorkovich, Chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation. “Over 300 of our residents are already implementing projects in this area. Many of them are working in a competitive market and their overall turnover in 2019 was nearly 7 billion rubles [slightly more than $100 million]. The time has come today not only to support individual companies, but to put a full-fledged project into practice with business partners.”
Source: Skolkovo
