Russian Venture Forum

Location: Kazan

On April 19, Kazan, a city 800 km east of Moscow in Tatarstan, will host Russian Venture Forum. The event will bring together leading international venture funds, local and international investors, entrepreneurs, business angels and startups from all over the world.

The attendees will discuss problems and prospects of venture investment, economy digitization and corporate innovations, among a variety of other topics.

Among the expected speakers are Rustam Minnikhanov, President of Tatarstan, Andrei Fursenko, Aide to the President of the Russian Federation, Alexander Galitskiy, co-founder and managing partner of Almaz Capital Partners, president of Elvis-Plus, Alexandra Johnson, GTS President and managing director at Global Technology Capital, Dirk Ahlborn, CEO at Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Jeffrey Paine, founder of Golden Gate Ventures, Viktor Vekselberg, president of Skolkovo and Igor Rybakov, founder of the Rybakov Foundation.

• Among the topics covered by the agenda will be the following:
• Economy digitization;
• Challenges which emerge in the way of the venture market maturing;
• Business angels in the Russian venture ecosystem;
• Crowdinvesting as a mechanism of the Russian venture market development;
• The landscape of the Russian acceleration programs, international experience;
• Corporate innovations: myths and reality;
• Up-to-date tools for the development of tech entrepreneurship as shown by the leading innovative clusters;
• Technology and innovation transfer into large businesses;
• Intellectual property.

The forum will feature the following blocks:
– Congress: local and international venture experts will discuss new development trends and problems in the Russian venture industry, as well as their potential solutions.
– Expo: fifty innovative projects selected out of over 500 teams will be competing for up to 10 million rubles (roughly $17,450 at the current exchange rate) in funding, as well as for the opportunity to benefit from expertise and investment at international innovative center in Ireland and Silicon Valley.
Such fields as Blockchain, industrial, MES Tech (media, entertainment, and sports) will be showcased at the event.

Organizers claim that 13% of the exhibiting companies manage to attract investment after the forum.

The event is organized by the Investment and Venture Fund of the Republic of Tatarstan and Russian Venture Capital Association.