Startup Tour: Kazan yields DNA analysis, river cleansing technology

The Russian Startup Tour unearthed some innovative gems in Kazan over the last two days, with six startups invited to Startup Village in Moscow and four million rubles in investments handed out.

At the pitch competition in the Kazan IT park on Tuesday and Wednesday, which represented the fourth stage of the 12-stop tour, prizes were on offer for the best innovations in five categories: technology for children, IT, biomedical technology, efficient energy and industrial technology.

Skolkovo strategy director Ekaterina Inozemtseva hading out the awards in Kazan. Photo: sk.ru

Andrei Matveev impressed with first and second place in the children’s category, though he was exempt from the Startup Village because that track will not be represented at the June 2-3 event.

All the other first-place finishers won a place at the final pitch battle: Ayrat Mukhametzyanov for his RT sim project; Lenar Valiev for his ultra-fast DNA analysis technology; Viktoria Dovgal for her technological complex Tri-ton; and Andrei Yevsigneev for his antishock seat base.

A special prize and an invitation to Moscow went to Sergei Nikitin for his water cleansing technology.

Million-ruble investments courtesy of the Fund for Developing Small High-Tech Enterprises went to Mukhametzyanov, Dovgal, Yevsigneev, and also Maxim Kotov for his portable surgery complex.

The winners were selected from some 54 companies to take part in the pitch sessions across five tracks.

At the third stage of the Russian Startup Tour in Nizhny Novgorod last month, two startups won million-ruble investments and six were invited to Startup Village.

The three-month tour has eight stops remaining, next visiting Yekaterinburg on March 11-12 and then its first foray outside Russia to Almaty on March 19-20.

Of the hundreds to have made pitches so far, around 26 startups have been chosen by jury to take part in the national pitch sessions at the Skolkovo Innovation Center on June 2-3.

The winners will receive further investment and possible Skolkovo residency.

A table showing the top places in each category. Those in bold are invited to the Startup Village; the asterisked projects are given a 1 million ruble investment from the Fund for Developing Small High-Tech Enterprises.