Invest in domestic startups!
In Russia, there is someone to invest in
It would seem that everything is bad in the country's economy. But, new markets and new niches are emerging, the process of import substitution has begun.
All this is a field for the emergence of new startups. Today, based on the data of the Generation S. GenerationS startup accelerator competition, there is a chance for startups to turn their, even the boldest idea, into a successful business. And yet, GenerationS is Russia's largest technology startup competition aimed at developing the country's innovation ecosystem. For investors, this is an opportunity to find an interesting project from the point of view of investing.
The number of technology startups in the country has increased markedly compared to last year. If last year about 1,600 applications were submitted for participation in the competition of aspiring entrepreneurs, this year this figure has increased to 1,858.
According to research results, in 2013 Russia rose to second place in Europe and fifth in the world in terms of venture capital investments. The example of GenerationS also shows a picture of rapid development – every year the number of applications is increasing, the percentage of projects from the regions is increasing, interest in knowledge-intensive industries is growing, projects are becoming more qualitative and mature. Last year, the competition gathered more than one and a half thousand participants. This year, the organizers of GenerationS – RVC and the Center for Innovative Development of Moscow – decided to expand the geography of acceleration programs and hold them not only in the capital, but also in St. Petersburg, Tomsk and Kazan. The expansion of the geography of the accelerator competition attracted a larger number of participants.
The influx of innovative projects and companies is important for Moscow. The necessary infrastructure has already been created and is developing for them in the capital: acceleration sites, technoparks, science parks. In 2015, an IT-technopark will be created in Moscow. New businesses are changing the face of the capital, revitalizing its economy and in the medium term are able to work on the idea of import substitution – now this is a priority topic for us. Therefore, projects that are at the stage of mass production are of unconditional interest," said Ekaterina Bulycheva, Deputy General Director of the Center for Innovative Development of Moscow
According to the organizers, regional teams are mostly developing in high–tech industries - robotics, electronics and microelectronics, security systems, navigation and defense technologies, mechanical engineering and instrumentation, construction technologies, biomedicine, resource-efficient technologies and others. More than 1400 applications were received from the Russian regions. The most innovatively active cities were Moscow, Kazan, St. Petersburg, Tomsk, Krasnodar, Astrakhan, Yekaterinburg, etc. In general, applications for the competition were submitted from 142 cities.
There is an opinion that the number of startups does not mean anything, the main thing is how many of them can become a successful and useful business for the country. However, the organizers note not only the number, but also the quality of the projects announced this year for the competition. Among the accelerator participants, only 24% (453 projects) are at the idea stage, 48% (892 projects) are at the product development stage, about 15% (277 projects) are engaged in pilot production and almost 12% (221 projects) are at the stage of serial production or sales.
The peculiarity of GenerationS-2014 is the collection of applications for four industry tracks aimed at stimulating investment in knowledge–intensive industries. The result of the emergence of industry tracks was an increase in the number of applications from high-tech projects by 28% compared to last year. It is extremely difficult for projects from the field of biotechnology and medicine to compete, for example, with startups in the IT field. And the division by tracks has created a situation where everyone is fighting in their own "weight category".
According to the results of this year: industrial solutions (Industrial – 508 applications), resource–efficient technologies (CleanTech - 302 applications) and biotechnology and medicine (BiotechMed – 323 applications). The IT direction remains the most popular – 725 applications were submitted (39% of the total number of applications against 57% last year).
The best projects selected by an authoritative jury will undergo a free acceleration program – training in the basics of technology business and interaction with investors. The result of the program will be the selection of projects that will be able to compete in the GenerationS final, on October 15 at the Moscow International Forum "Open Innovations". The strongest teams will present their projects to Russian and foreign investors, as well as compete for a prize fund of 5 million rubles and special prizes from the partners of the competition.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru05.09.2014