Moscow Innovators Will Soon Challenge the Americans
"Coteries" of young scientists and creative entrepreneurs have become just as fashionable a phenomenon in Moscow as the highbrow parties and campaigns of urban activists. Those who recently were called bores and "nerds", now are seen going to avant-garde venues in expensive glasses with stylish rims, jackets and jeans; eating healthy food, listening to good music, fluently conversing in English, exchanging ideas that can change the world, and solving problems for millions of dollars. Digital October, the Central House of the Entrepreneur, the Nagatino coworking center, Skolkovo — the number of meeting points continues to grow.
The E-Trike project was recognized as the best startup: The project is a car, which can reduce its length in traffic jams. Photo: Skolkovo Fund press service
On the threshold of summer in the Hypercube of the Skolkovo innovation center, the first international conference was held by the startup companies of Startup Village. Some media monitored Dmitry Medvedev, Vladislav Surkov and Arkady Dvorkovich as they moved around the space, while others assessed the impact of the agreement on cooperation between the Skolkovo and Kamaz, and others "interrogated" innovators about their inventions. Meanwhile, one of the rank and file of young participants very accurately described what was happening: "This is a real coterie!"
And this is a coterie in the best sense: when a lot of smart people gather for informal communication from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Siberia, Europe and the United States.
Accepting all possible qualifications, we can nonetheless say that we saw the appearance of the first young sprouts of the Russian "rainforest" (a term created by famous American venture capitalist Greg Horovitta), where in free, creative communication of scientists, investors and businessmen, new projects are born. Here, people are not afraid to share their ideas with others, knowing that in return they will have two ideas (their own and that or their interlocutor).
The question of the particular path of Russia, as always, does not give us a clean copy of Silicon Valley in Moscow. But Skolkovo confirmed the fact that among our intellectuals, there are really many whose souls are tied to Russia and who want to develop their country. In the Hypercube, the sore subject of Russian programmers, scattered all over the world, could not be avoided, and the issue of what kind of exclusive support high-tech personnel can give back to their own land was hotly discussed.
“The problem is that, having generated the idea and even reaching through the help of state grants to a prototype, you then hit a wall,” one of the residents of Skolkovo complained to MK. “In order to start profiting as an entrepreneur, you need to commence mass production. This requires investment. But Russian business angels prefer to invest in clones that have already proven themselves with Western know-how, and foreigners say: 'Everything is ok, you just move in with us.'”
Major domestic venture capitalist Alexander Galitsky does not agree with this opinion: “I think it's duplicitous. Leading Russian funds do not invest principally in "copies". We choose only technology that is factually protected against accusations of plagiarism from other projects. With regard to foreign investors, I have many friends and partners from among them. To take responsibility for moving a developer and all his family, to invest large sums of money, not knowing if the project can 'shoot,' no one will do this. So these accusations sound like an excuse: 'Why I can not get the money.'”
“There are two main drawbacks to domestic startups. The author is either too keen on his own idea and does not see that there are already similar projects, and it is necessary to competitively enter the market, or vice versa — a man tied to a beautiful business model who does not think it is necessary to develop technically.”
“Although, of course, Russian angel investors also have their faults,” Galitsky agreed. “Frequently, non-professionals get into venture investing — people who have never built their own companies and do not understand technology. In the words of one of my partners: "In Russia, there's a lot of money, but little capital." That is, we do not understand what capital is. And we are still counting on a quick profit: those who can play the risks in a longer format are few.
American scientist Robert Schmukler Rice reported some interesting information to MK — Rice is famous for having extended the life of the nematode worm 10 times, reaching a record of longevity in laboratory animals. According to him, Russia has a good chance to fill a niche of high-tech development that is now occupied by the U.S.. The professor referred to fundamental research in the field of longevity, which promises significant opportunities for slowing the process of aging and rejuvenating the body. "Recently, here in the United States, there has been a monstrous lack of money for basic science, and there is a reduction or redistribution of public funds,” admitted Rice. “I, like many of my colleagues, am forced to sit for days filling out documents on commercial grants. You need a detailed application, which perhaps three people will read, and you'll be lucky if even one understands the importance of the problem. So Russians now have a great opportunity for progress, and I would suggest to your business to pay attention to anti-age development (anti-aging medicine. — MK).”
The next conference of Startup Village while take place at Skolkovo in one year. And there is hope that Moscow's "coterie" will soon drag after it all the other regions of Russia.