Established with the hope of bringing Russia’s powerful tech know-how to the world and encouraging entrepreneurship, Skolkovo is working to overcome the hurdles, writes Geektime.
The Skolkovo Technopark is due to open next month. Photo: Sk.ru.
Back in 2010 when former President Dmitry Medvedev put his signature on the official order to launch the Skolkovo Foundation, there were many around the world who had their doubts on whether Russia was really ready to join the international startup community in full force.
Charged with the massive undertaking of laying the groundwork for diversifying Russia’s economy through the startup and technology sector and driving a move towards entrepreneurship, the Skolkovo Innovation Center is at the forefront of an effort to bring the country into the marketplace of the new century.
The Russian technology sector has traditionally been viewed as top tiered, with a strong background in the hard sciences and universities pumping out brilliant engineers and developers. However due in large part to the aftershocks of the Soviet era that persecuted those with an entrepreneurial spirit, startup culture there has been slow to form. Now this new generation is being propelled forward to build businesses and compete on the global stage with heavy backing by the government. Moreover, they are putting their money where their mouth is, bringing together significant financial and human resources to help it succeed.
Roughly a 30-minute drive outside of central Moscow, passing by a walled-off golf course belonging to a well known oligarch and through the grassy fields, the multi-colored structures that form the core of the center come into view.
In attending this year’s Startup Village two-day event and speaking with returning journalists, the sense of progress was palpable with remarks on how much things had changed since their visit the previous year.
The core cluster buildings are up and running, and newer buildings are still being worked on in the surrounding fields, including those by large companies that are looking to be close to the innovation center. During our visit, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich stopped by for the opening of Boeing’s newest pilot R&D and training center before coming to meet with journalists.
On a tour around the property, with its 2.6 million square meters gross build-able area of land, the scope of the project became clearer. A massive office building with space for 200 startups, rental housing for workers, a high-priced business center, research facilities at the Technopark that is still under construction for large corporations like Sberbank, they are all being built and more importantly paid for.
According to the Foundation, the government has so far invested 123 billion rubles, the Foundation added another 7 billion, investors in the infrastructure side have added another 15.2 billion, and finally the companies using the facilities have thrown in 13.5 billion of their own, bringing the total to 158 billion invested thus far.
The message that Skolkovo and Russia are dead set on being open for business on the global stage smacks you in the face like a brick wall. Coming from Tel Aviv, observing the scale of the work being done felt overwhelming.
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