Rifkat Minnikhanov on RVF 2024: ‘Venture capital market will not survive without technological entrepreneurship’
The main topic of the Russian Venture Forum 2024 will be the development of technological entrepreneurship, and for the first time the focus will be on the involvement of young people in knowledge-intensive business. “Then the taste will develop, and we will launch new acceleration programmes for young people," head of the organising committee Rifkat Minnikhanov explained the idea of the upcoming event. The latest amendments to the programme were made at the final meeting of the organising committee. Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Science of Russia, Daria Kiryanova, who is part of it, proposed to strengthen the business programme with the governor's block, but due to the difficult situation, they decided to limit themselves to an “optional” visit.
“Our legislator of technological entrepreneurship in higher education”
The final meeting of the organising committee for the XVIII Russian Venture Forum was held by President of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan Rifkat Minnikhanov and Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Science of Russia Daria Kiryanova on 18 April. This is the 18th forum in Kazan, but this time it is patronised by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science of the Russian Federation. The organisers rely on the involvement of young people in technological entrepreneurship, so the agenda is coordinated in detail with the relevant educational structures. “Daria Borisovna is our legislator of technological entrepreneurship in the field of science and higher education," Rifkat Minnikhanov introduced the Moscow guest to the audience, who connected via video conferencing.
The preparation of the forum is almost complete, said Damir Galiev, the director of the Investment and Venture Fund of the Republic of Tatarstan. According to him, over 4,000 participants are expected to arrive, about 200 speakers, and a large number of foreign participants appeared. For the first time, two large delegations of technology investors from China are coming to Kazan. And the plenary session was decided to be devoted to the topic “Technological entrepreneurship: The Space of Higher Competencies”. It will be moderated by TASS Deputy Director Andrey Sokolov, Damir Galiev stated.
Valery Falkov, the Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia, Anatoly Braverman, the CEO of Russian Venture Capital Company and First Deputy Director General of Russian Direct Investment Fund, are expected to speak at the plenary session. Venture businesses will be represented by Alexey Parabuchev, the partner of KAMA FLOW investment company, managing partner of Voskhod Venture Fund, CEO of Moscow Innovation Cluster Fund. The session will provide an overview of the venture financing infrastructure — a technology entrepreneurship platform, and investors will outline a picture of financing for growing startups and present specific cases. “The teams will hear what they can count on, how much investment the venture fund has," Damir Galiyev added.
Grants will be distributed directly on the forum
As usual, the forum will be held in “two planes”: exposition and congress. The large exposition will feature the developments and startups of about 500 companies from different regions of the Russian Federation. Half of them are in the Volga Federal District. But in a special pitch zone, the most interesting thing will be shown — 50 projects that apply for funding under the Investment and Venture Fund acceleration programme, Galiyev said. According to him, a record number of applications for this programme have been received this year.
RVF 2024 is not only about the show, but also about the money of business angels. On day zero, April 24, a competitive selection of startups is held in Innopolis SEZ. But the main intrigue is connected with the selection of 20 promising projects whose teams will receive an invitation to participate in the BRICS University summit. The competitive selection will take place on the second day of RVF 2024. This was reported to journalists by representative of the Venture Investment Association (RAVI) Igor Gladkikh following the meeting of the RVF 2024 organising committee. According to him, an expert group of RVF participants will select the most promising startup projects that will be put forward to attract technology investors at the BRICS University summit.
“One of the selection stages takes place at our forum. It will be open to teams who want to get to the BRICS summit and meet with investors specialising in technology transactions," he said. “It is planned to select 20 projects, the number of applications is dozens," he said. Not only teams from Russian universities are participating in the selection, he added. “But mostly our main criterion for selecting winners is the ability of the team to achieve maximum results in a fast-growing market. The winners of the competitive selection for the RVF will have to compete with teams from foreign countries. According to the organisers, such selections will make Tatarstan the most accessible platform for direct communication between venture investors and startup teams.
The congressional part of the forum promises to be intense. 43 events are planned here, which are held in three blocks. An important place is given to the platform of university technological entrepreneurship, including financing of early-stage developments. The second block is devoted to venture investments: These are the structuring of fund transactions, the condition of private investors in the early stages of business angels. The speakers will be about 230 heads and top managers of businesses, federal authorities, 80 directors and partners of management companies, venture funds and private investors, more than 37 top managers of the corporation responsible for innovative development
Maybe invite the governors to the forum's living room?
During the hearing of the programme of the event, Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Science of Russia Daria Kiryanova made a small remark. She proposed to strengthen the business programme with the governor's block. “Venture capital investment is the prerogative of the Ministry of Economic Development, I would recommend inviting from there, as well as inviting from the presidential administration of the Russian Federation by regions. He could gather governors under his auspices and talk about regional policy, and how investments affect the region, and what mechanisms can be improved. We can make a living room for the governors to discuss regional policy in an informal setting," she said.
She sees the point of inviting the governors to direct the money released from the regions to venture projects. “The president's message said about the cancellation of 2/3 of the debts of the regions. And there is a restriction on where to put the money that was planned to pay off debts. We need to discuss this topic on the sidelines of the forum with the governors.” However, in difficult times, many governors are busy with current issues in the regions, and they will not always be able to find time to come to Kazan. As a result, we decided to limit ourselves to an “optional” visit — if someone can, they are always welcome. But the invitations were sent out to everyone 2 months ago, Rifkat Minnikhanov said.