Digest of Russian programs to support IT startups # 1
In today's and subsequent releases of our digest, we will talk about a variety of domestic support programs for IT start-ups. A detailed list of such programs we cited earlier. For each release of the digest, we plan to select programs that are different in focus and capabilities, but united by a common theme - today, for example, we will talk about the connection between such programs and classical education .
Today in Russia there are a lot of support programs for young entrepreneurs working at universities or closely related to the topic of education in general, therefore, in the framework of the first digest we will tell only about some of them. In addition to the list of such companies, we included in the digest a more detailed description of them, as well as several small interviews in which representatives of support programs answer our questions about how their organizations are connected with classical education, how such companies popularize start-up culture there are alma mater in the walls of one's own, and is it possible to combine study and, albeit small, but business.
')
By the way, the topic of education for today's graduation was not chosen by chance: firstly, the support processes themselves, such as incubation and acceleration, involve the training of participants in such programs; secondly, there is an increased interest among start-ups and learning management processes among university and university students. business. This is confirmed by, for example, the Stanford course How to start a startup . Thirdly, there is a not unreasonable idea that most of the founders of IT start-ups come precisely from among the students (or recent university graduates). This is true or not, but the founder of a business (especially venture) is usually associated with an educational institution that this person graduated from - this is the logical link between universities and IT entrepreneurship support programs.
In this issue:
- HSE Business Incubator: HSE Inc
- Business Incubator of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation: FUBI
- Receptionist innovator
- GBOU "InnArt"
- Technopark JSC NPP "Sapphire"
- Open University Skolkovo OtUS
- Business Incubator MSU
Consultation and preparation for participation in competitions and innovation programs
Organizations that provide educational support to young entrepreneurs range from large educational projects (such as OtUS) to relatively small initiatives whose main purpose is to prepare projects for participation in certain competitions or programs to support innovative entrepreneurship. They can provide both “point support” and consulting, as well as conduct large-scale educational programs, akin to the classic university lecture course.
GBOU "Moscow Center for Innovation and Scientific and Technical Creativity" (GBOU "Innart”). The Center was established under the auspices of the Moscow Department of Education, works with young people and provides consulting support and support to young authors and teams of innovative projects on participation in competitions and innovative activities. Conducts events accredited by the program "UMNIK", "START", etc.
“Receptionist Innovator” is the project office and coordinating unit of the UMNIK program, which organizes seminars, conferences and advises young entrepreneurs on participation in innovative contests.
Open University Skolkovo (OtUS). The Open University offers young entrepreneurs several educational programs at once, including a lecture program on the study of global technological trends and an interactive program aimed at forming small teams with entrepreneurial competencies, as well as helping teams in the search for ideas for innovative projects. In addition, the Open University helps to develop business competencies among the participants of the Skolkovo project and helps to prepare an application for applicants for member status.
Business incubators
On a competitive basis, they provide expert and financial support to entrepreneurship (mostly small technology projects), commercialization and launch of new businesses. Provide services of mentors and experts, financial services, networking with partners and customers, the provision of office space (the range of services varies depending on the specific business incubation program).
Business Incubator of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation FUBI. The incubator (in the framework of FUBI, the preincubation program is also being conducted) provides office space to residents, consults projects, analyzes key project indicators and attracts equity and debt financing for them.
Business Incubator HSE HSE Inc. In addition to the standard capabilities, the incubator holds the HSE {SUN} Summer School, the HSE {14K} business ideas competition, the Iron Entrepreneur business game championship, organizes seminars and workshops for start-ups.
Technoparks
They differ from business incubators primarily because in addition to consulting and the provision of office premises, residents often have the opportunity to expand their own production on their territory or conduct research (business parks can be run inside a technology park as a separate type of program or service).
JSC NPP "Sapphire". Sapphire is an enterprise operating in the Russian defense industry (supplies microprocessors for Roscosmos and the Ministry of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation). The company has created its own technology park, providing residents with not only educational programs and office space, but also opportunities to launch their own production. Technopark provides technological and financial management of residents, provides legal and marketing services, as well as scientific and technical expertise of projects.
Our questions to program representatives:
1. How high is the percentage of university students among residents of an incubator? Are there resident teams that are not directly related to the university? Do students have a blank check when deciding whether to enroll a team in an incubation program?
Dmitry Shumikhin, Director of FUBI Business Incubator
Students of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation participate in the Pre-incubator educational program, within the framework of which they try to build their own business or are trained by residents. About 25% of residents of graduates and masters of our university, the rest from other universities are among residents. Students get carte blanche for free participation in the Pre-incubator (with students from other universities I do not work at the moment). And when enrolling in an incubation program, only a business project matters, the team’s origin is secondary.
Anastasia Tyurina, General Director of the Innovation Center "HSE Innovations"
The HSE Incubator is open to any teams, regardless of affiliation with the HSE. Almost all teams are mixed. It often happens that students or graduates of HSE join residents in the course of work in the incubator, visiting its events, etc. HSE students do not have a blank check. The incubator selects the teams that can really grow effectively there: they have their own prototype, they have an initial understanding of the team, and the most important thing is the willingness and desire to work for the result.
Daria Komarkova, Director of the MSU Business Incubator
Carte blanche for selection at the Moscow State University Incubator has exclusively thought-out IT projects with a strong team and motivation. They get the opportunity to develop their hypothesis to the level of a working product and enter the market with it in just 4 months. At the entrance, we do not limit the teams in terms of experience, university, and even age. As a result, we get about 300-400 different applications, of which we select only 6-7 teams. 90% of our resident companies and graduates are directly related to MSU - they are graduates or postgraduates of our faculties. It's not about the selection system, but about the quality of projects.
2. How do you “promote” your work within the walls of higher education institutions / educational institutions: do you conduct any classes, trainings, lectures for students?
Mikhail Komarov, GBOU "InnArt"
On the basis of the Moscow Center for Innovation and Scientific and Technical Creativity (InnArt) it regularly conducts classes for students in the field of innovative and scientific and technical activities. On the basis of GBOU "InnArt", classes of the Moscow school of the inventor are also regularly held, as well as city competitions in the field of engineering and technical creativity (for example, "I am the inventor", "From idea to project"), which contribute to the popularization of scientific and technical creativity, development innovation component of additional education and the formation of teams and authors of future innovation projects.
Dmitry Shumikhin, Director of FUBI Business Incubator
Periodically, incubator partners hold educational events for students, and a university-wide project competition takes place once a year. The main product for students - Preincubator.
Anastasia Tyurina, General Director of the Innovation Center "HSE Innovations"
Incubator promotion is a regular team task. The HSE Day is held twice a year, and in the beginning of September - the Freshman Day. Each major program (elective, acceleration program, social track, etc.) is always accompanied by an Open Day. The most active promotion channel is the HSE website and incubator. All HSE students and teachers are also part of the HSE newsletter's internal newsletter program, thanks to which we always have the opportunity to inform the audience about news, important events, and contests.
The earlier students begin to engage in entrepreneurship and familiarize themselves with the work of the incubator, the higher the chances that they will become our residents. All good students work, as a rule, starting from the third year, and they are not at all concerned with start-ups. But the highest activity in the development of ideas in children 1-2 courses. For them, there is an Iron Entrepreneur - a business ideas development championship. In addition, we hold over 100 free master classes per year. Experience shows that almost all HSE students at least several times during their studies took part in the activities of the incubator.
The earlier students begin to engage in entrepreneurship and familiarize themselves with the work of the incubator, the higher the chances that they will become our residents. All good students work, as a rule, starting from the third year, and they are not at all concerned with start-ups. But the highest activity in the development of ideas in children 1-2 courses. For them, there is an Iron Entrepreneur - a business ideas development championship. In addition, we hold over 100 free master classes per year. Experience shows that almost all HSE students at least several times during their studies took part in the activities of the incubator.
Daria Komarkova, Director of the MSU Business Incubator
The MSU business incubator was initially focused on very active work with its residents. That is why we do not recruit more than 6-8 teams per selection. At the same time, we are doing a huge number of open events within the framework of two other structures: the Center for the Development of Youth Entrepreneurship at MSU and the MSU Business Club. As part of their work, we conduct more than 100 different educational events per semester, such as master classes (Oleg Tinkov, Maxim Nogotkov), educational trainings, as well as seminars on raising the so-called. softskills. We also conduct a special inter-faculty course “Basics of Entrepreneurship” for all MSU students, and together with our partners we will organize a competition of breakthrough ideas “Eureka”.
Participants of such events almost never go directly to Incubator, most often these are projects without a team at the level of the idea and the choice of a future profession. But for us it is a long-term job. We know that in a few years these guys can come to us with already serious technological projects and the desire to really do big business with this project, and not just “try it yourself”.
Participants of such events almost never go directly to Incubator, most often these are projects without a team at the level of the idea and the choice of a future profession. But for us it is a long-term job. We know that in a few years these guys can come to us with already serious technological projects and the desire to really do big business with this project, and not just “try it yourself”.
3. How realistic, in your opinion, is it to create your startup and at the same time learn? Startup and learning interfere with each other or can you still benefit from yourself and your project, combining one with the other?
A.Yu. Smetanov, Director of Technopark NPP "Sapphire", Doctor of Economics, Professor
Today, a project-based approach to education is being introduced in Russian education: if there is an opportunity to engage in the implementation of your project in practice as part of the educational process, then everything is real. For example, on the basis of Technopark NPP "Sapphire" is the Department of Innovation Management of the University of Mechanical Engineering (MAMI), which allows in the educational process to engage in design activities on the basis of Technopark NPP "Sapphire" and the Youth Innovation and Technological Center NPP "Sapphire" and implement own start-up, and also later after the establishment of the enterprise to become a resident of Technopark. This is a very good experience and approach in the integrated support of training, project activities and development of youth entrepreneurship.
Dmitry Shumikhin, Director of FUBI Business Incubator
I myself studied and created my first startup from the 4th course. I was good at combining study and business. As part of the subjects, I transferred the knowledge gained to my project, wrote coursework, essays, laboratories, etc. on it. Study can be well combined with the process of planning and preparing a business. It is better to manage a business after graduation in order to devote all the time to the business, the only way to get a result.
Evgenia Russkikh, Project Manager, Skolkovo Foundation
If we talk about a knowledge-intensive business, then engineering students can transform their R & D into an entrepreneurial project while studying. Moreover, it seems to me a very useful practice, since it gives you the opportunity to face the “real world” and understand whether it is worth doing business at all, or whether it is “not yours”. Well, and besides other things, when writing research projects in the overwhelming majority of Russian universities, students either work for a future doctoral dissertation, or the results of their thesis go “on the table”. And if the commercial component of the project is taken into account already at the stage of writing the research, then the number of MIPs created in accordance with federal law No. 217-FZ will increase, which in general will have a positive impact on the country's economy.
Daria Komarkova, Director of the MSU Business Incubator
Objectively, anything can interfere with the work on your project, including study. The question is solely in the desire to make a “simple hobby” a scalable business. We had the experience of working with students of 2-3 courses, but, frankly, such students often lack the awareness of their actions and the correct prioritization. Session is often more important than meeting with clients, and as a serious business, as you understand, is not done.
That is why now the average age of the teams of our resident projects is 28-30 years. These are people who have already worked in large companies and have decided to create their tech business and / or postgraduate graduate students who understand that the technology they are developing in their department can be brought to product and market with our help.
For students, we just have a Youth Entrepreneurship Development Center and a Business Club - this is where students can discuss their ideas, see if they really want to develop them, find a team and get a first examination.
That is why now the average age of the teams of our resident projects is 28-30 years. These are people who have already worked in large companies and have decided to create their tech business and / or postgraduate graduate students who understand that the technology they are developing in their department can be brought to product and market with our help.
For students, we just have a Youth Entrepreneurship Development Center and a Business Club - this is where students can discuss their ideas, see if they really want to develop them, find a team and get a first examination.
4. Can the creation of a startup with your support become a natural continuation of studies at the university - do you have any graduate support programs, does your organization actively work with the most recent students? Do you find this approach effective?
Anastasia Tyurina, General Director of the Innovation Center "HSE Innovations"
HSE is a research university of humanitarian orientation, there is no focus on training entrepreneurs: HSE trains specialists in economics, management, sociology, government officials, financiers. And this is a fact of life. Creating a startup during school at HSE is more likely an exception. By the way, in the ranking of the TOP 20 best startups in Russia, only 3 people are graduates of HSE. And, perhaps, only Elena Masolova and Aynur Abdulnasyrov made startups during their studies.
And this only confirms HSE’s focus on research and education of non-entrepreneurial people. In addition, HSE students leave the university in order to earn at least 100,000 fixed salary, which is not given by any startup!
There are, of course, and remarkable exceptions: for example, Sasha Ivanov, who created his own startup, “The Budget for SMS”, having become acquainted with incubator classes with his partner Rustem Faizullin, having received a grant from HSE (FIP competition), having completed master classes and an acceleration program. Now the startup is a resident of the accelerator Qiwi Universe and received the next round of investments.
And I repeat once again, it is too late to involve students in an incubator at senior courses. Involvement and first acquaintance should occur at 1-2 courses, only then they will come, for example, to internship programs in startups of the incubator or other our partners, to practice there 3-4 years, to do case studies (this is the START program). This practice allows you to experience the taste and drive of work in startups.
And this only confirms HSE’s focus on research and education of non-entrepreneurial people. In addition, HSE students leave the university in order to earn at least 100,000 fixed salary, which is not given by any startup!
There are, of course, and remarkable exceptions: for example, Sasha Ivanov, who created his own startup, “The Budget for SMS”, having become acquainted with incubator classes with his partner Rustem Faizullin, having received a grant from HSE (FIP competition), having completed master classes and an acceleration program. Now the startup is a resident of the accelerator Qiwi Universe and received the next round of investments.
And I repeat once again, it is too late to involve students in an incubator at senior courses. Involvement and first acquaintance should occur at 1-2 courses, only then they will come, for example, to internship programs in startups of the incubator or other our partners, to practice there 3-4 years, to do case studies (this is the START program). This practice allows you to experience the taste and drive of work in startups.
Evgenia Russkikh, Project Manager, Skolkovo Foundation
We are actively working with senior students. They are ambitious and purposeful, so they have great potential to create their own innovative business. Also, the Open University Skolkovo is now actively developing the direction of internships, under which we offer students an internship at Skolkovo start-ups, at the Skolkovo Foundation and partner companies. More information about internships can be found here . And if a student wishes to continue his studies after graduation, then the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology offers unique opportunities for Russia: combining research with entrepreneurial experience (with the opportunity to conduct part of study abroad at leading universities in the world).
Daria Komarkova, Director of the MSU Business Incubator
According to statistics, it is youth entrepreneurship that has a beneficial effect on the labor market, because graduates often hire their former classmates to join the team, thereby creating about 5-6 new jobs. We are actively working in the framework of the educational process with the 4th year and masters, for example, of the Faculty of Economics, but we have no purpose or obligation specifically to take one of them to the Incubator. The team must, under general conditions, submit the project to the Incubator and, if it passes all the stages of selection, we will be happy to work with it as our resident.
5. Do you collaborate with other support programs for young entrepreneurs? What are these programs and how do they help you expand your pool of opportunities?
Mikhail Komarov, "Reception Innovator"
Project Office "Reception Innovator" is a monitoring center for peer review, implementation analysis and consulting support for projects carried out under the UMNIK program of the Foundation for Assistance to the Development of Small Forms of Enterprises in the Scientific and Technical Sphere. We are actively cooperating with the Assistance Fund, since the “UMNIK” program, in our opinion, is unique: within its framework, more than 1,500 people from the state receive funding throughout Russia. In my opinion, there are no more large-scale, open and effective programs to support young entrepreneurs in Russia. We also actively cooperate with other development institutions, venture funds and technology parks, including the Department of Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship of the city of Moscow, which also supports young entrepreneurs in Moscow.
Evgenia Russkikh, Project Manager, Skolkovo Foundation
One of the main formats of the Open University Skolkovo work with students, graduate students and young scientists is seasonal schools. Winter or summer school is a kind of intensive, in which the guys work on projects for 6 days in the Skolkovo Hypercube. As part of the preparation of the seasonal school program, we actively interact with all development institutions of the Russian Federation, as well as with several incubators and acceleration programs. This interaction allows us to collect the highest quality content and give school participants a complete picture of the innovation ecosystem of Russia. And all our subscribers a couple of times a month receive the newsletter of the Open University Skolkovo, in which we collect not only our own news and announcements, but also announcements of our partners.
[ Digest of Russian IT start-up support programs # 2 ]
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/244303/
All Articles