Skolkovo IT cluster resident Ingenious Team was one of a dozen startups to demonstrate their innovations to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Kremlin meeting this month.
President Vladimir Putin hosts young innovators in the Kremlin. Photo: kremlin.ru
The Tver-based company, which became a Skolkovo resident in 2012, showed the president its Forecast NOW! software, which is already used by hundreds of stores across Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus to optimize retail inventories and forecast demand.
“For our brand, this meeting was obviously very useful – it will help strengthen it,” Ingenious Team general director Gritsai told sk.ru after Friday’s event, which was organized by the Fund for Developing Internet Initiatives.
“I think from our clients’ point of view, this will be reflected in greater loyalty – we’re not just another startup project that could go under at any moment, we’re a company that that is striving for something, that is developing well and has even taken its project to the president,” Gritsai added.
Describing the atmosphere at the meeting, Gritsai noted: “It was clear that Vladimir Vladimirovich wants to help startups – there were orders made to various government bodies. For instance, the president asked the Economic Development and Trade Ministry to work with us on how to further implement our product.”
In remarks carried by the Kremlin’s official website, Putin responded positively to the innovation.
Alexander Gritsai. Photo: fnow.ru
“One of the most important ingredients of any economy is to understand how the real sector works and to know inventory volumes,” the president said. “Demand depends on this, the effective work of many enterprises depends on this. We need to connect you with the Economic Trade and Development Ministry,” he added.
Forecast NOW! is used chiefly in the building materials market rather than supermarket or other consumer sectors, Gritsai noted.
The program computes optimal stock volumes for any business and formulates purchasing recommendations. It can make short-term and long-term demand prognoses – from four weeks to six months. Taken as a whole, the solution saves on storage space and offers automated stock purchasing to streamline a significant part of the business process.
Skolkovo’s IT cluster sees retail as a key market and is very keen to help companies fill the growing demand for innovative solutions, said project manager Ivan Kireev.
“These guys have done very well, and we believe in their success in the market,” Kireev said. “We will continue to provide all necessary support from our side.”
The president met with internet innovators back in November 2013, according to the Fund for Developing Internet Initiatives. Such meetings will be regularly held, said the fund, which organizes the Internet Entrepreneurship in Russia forum.
That forum brings together all the key players in internet business, including, in 2014, the Easy Ten project, which helps foreigners learn Russian and was promised state support by Vladimir Putin.
After that meeting, Easy Ten, founded by a group of Skoltech students, was admitted to the fund’s acceleration program and raised nearly half a million dollars in seed investment.