State-owned fund of funds RVC has launched GenerationS 2015, the second edition of its annual initiative to stimulate innovation in large Russian companies. Corporations associated with this “corporate accelerator” include mobile operator MTS, hydroelectricity firm RusHydro, construction group Morton, national savings bank Sberbank, Johnson & Johnson, and more.
“Enterprise customers formulate the requirements for the selected projects and structures are created inside companies within the corporate accelerator format. The whole concept is to have startup infrastructure emerge within Russian corporations,” says Gulnara Bikkulova, director of the department of innovation markets at RVC.
The GenerationS project was launched in 2014 in a bid to have Russian corporations support the government’s efforts to support technological innovation. This year, the “corporate accelerator” will encompass a variety of technological fields, including power and energy, telecom, robotics, aerospace, Smart Cities, oil and gas, bio, and medical technologies.
The acceleration program does not provide investment, graduates receive cash prizes, as well as links to investors and partners. GenerationS is taking applications until July 1, with the program running from July 5 until November 20.
According to RVC, 1,858 startups took part in GenerationS in 2014. The prize pool from the accelerator totaled 5 million rubles, while partners offered 38 million rubles.
