The conference for businesses in the field of technology will be held on May 21 and 22 in a new format — Startup Village Livestream’20. The Startup Tour stages in Ufa, Tomsk, and Krasnodar are postponed until September 2020.
Hence, the Startup Village Livestream’20 will be the first fully virtual conference of such a scale not only in the Skolkovo Innovation Center, but in Russia as well. Thanks to the shift to online format, everyone can take part in the conference for free. One shall sign up on the website to get access to the program.
Arkady Dvorkovich, Chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation Photo courtesy: Sk.ru.
"In view of the threat of the spread of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) and in accordance with the recommendations of the Government of the Russian Federation, we decided to hold Startup Village 2020, our key event, in digital format, said Arkady Dvorkovich, Chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation. — Unfortunately, we will not be able to receive our guests in Skolkovo. However, on the other hand, it is an opportunity for us as the country's leading innovation platform to arrange and conduct this event, unprecedented in scale, in online format. This is a great challenge for us. We also have to postpone until September the Startup Tour in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Tomsk Region, and Krasnodar Territory. The exact dates will be announced after discussion and approval with the regional authorities. Good health to everyone who work and cooperate with us."
The tenth anniversary Open Innovations Startup Tour, the largest project in Russia and other CIS countries to search for promising startups in the regions, started in the Primorye Territory on January 23 this year. Regional stages took place in Vladivostok, Arkhangelsk, Ivanovo, Perm, Krasnoyarsk, Innopolis, and Yekaterinburg. The grand final winners in these cities have reached the semifinals of the Startup Village project competition and will now present their projects to the jury members online.
"The current epidemiological situation enabled a quick transition to a new format, said Ekaterina Inozemtseva, General Director of the Skolkovo Forum. — We are transforming the Startup Village into the Startup Village Livestream’20. Thanks to digital technologies, participants from anywhere in the world can not only select and watch the most interesting lectures and sessions, meet with mentors and investors online, but also communicate online with each other and with our speakers."
The managers also plan to expand the geography of the Open Innovations Startup Tour and hold a series of events abroad in autumn 2020. The necessary arrangements have been made with Uzbekistan and negotiations are underway with the representatives of EurAsEC member states and other countries. The winners of the international stage of the Startup Tour and regional competitions in Ufa, Tomsk, and Krasnodar will be able to take part in semifinals of the Startup Village 2021 competition.