Government backs tech entrepreneurship at universities

Print 27 June 2017
Marchmont Innovation News

By September 1, 2017 the Russian Ministry of Education and Science and a pool of experts promise to develop a roadmap for support of technology entrepreneurship in Russian universities, Firrma.ru  reported , citing a verbal mandate government officials received from Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. 

At Phase 1 of the pilot program, five universities will be involved: ITMO (St. Petersburg), MIPT (Phystech, Moscow), and the state universities in Moscow (MSU), Novosibirsk (NSU), and Tomsk (TSU). Over the next five years a total of 30 Russian universities are expected to join in the $3.5m program. The pilot universities will receive as much as $530,000 each. 

The federal authorities have plans to develop entry-level infrastructure for young entrepreneurs to work (co-working centers, technoparks and business incubators), pay for students’ participation in accelerator programs, and build tech transfer centers. Young business people will also be eligible for government prizes at national and regional competitions. 

In addition, Russia’s Innovation Support Fund is expected to step up efforts to back tech entrepreneurial teams that are not yet registered legal entities. New support initiatives may include eased access to accelerator services, microgrants for early-stage projects developed by students, and tax incentives for universities that are eager to collaborate with industry. Also, university premises rental will be eased for technology start-ups.

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