The finalists of Telecom Idea GenerationS seed accelerator have been identified

During one week 24 young tech companies, the finalists of MTS-led Telecom Idea, went through an intense program for business development in Moscow. On October 7th there was a Demo Day, during which the participants demonstrated to the jury how they had managed to improve their projects and what they had learned during that week. The participants had three minutes each to introduce themselves to the jury and to try to make the best impression.

The finalists of Telecom Idea GenerationS seed corporate accelerator were:

• Platform for working with data in real time ‘Directual.’ It enables to build scenarios based on events context;
• Platform GetShopTV enables viewers to file their application, receive consultation, make a purchase during an ad or while watching TV, using their remote control and/or their smartphone;
• Online education assistant PUSHka. It is an app which helps put together your curriculum; it will then send it for approval, and will be updating the same;
• The new technology for optical fiber networks by FTTH ‘Optical Harnesses’ which enables to fix forge suspended harnesses on any bearing structure;
• Cardberry service. It enables to keep track (record) all your discount cards, bank cards, fitness center subscription cards, and your work pass – all in one electronic card.

The Telecom Idea accelerator programs were noted and praised by the organizers and partners of GenerationS. The Plant Your Own Forest team was awarded the most creative presentation. The most ‘media savvy’ project in the accelerator was PUSHKa. It was praised for its activities in social media. The three projects (Plant Your Own Forest, GetShopTV and PandaMoney) were awarded the opportunity to take part in the 4YearFromNow conference which will take place in November 2015 in Barcelona. Another three projects (CheckU, KUDAKOGDA, and PUSHka) were awarded by a partner of GenerationS – FinPRO – and they will partake in Slush, an international startup conference.

“Within the scope of MTS corporate seed accelerator program we – supported by GenerationS – have been able to build and test hypotheses about cooperation points with innovative projects and, of course, we will continue working with its participants. Thirteen projects have already reached the stage of negotiations with the stakeholders from our company. We hope the knowledge and connections forged by the participants during the program will help them develop their projects which – possibly in the near future – will shape the telecommunications industry in the country.” – Mikhail Arkhipov, member of the Management Board, Vice President, Human Resources.

Gulnara Bikkulova, Director of Innovative Markets Department, Member of the Management Board of RVC: “We see the growing interest of corporations to working with small innovative companies. Based on the results of the Telecom Idea GenerationS seed corporate accelerator, several startups are already talking with MTS about ways to implement their solutions in the corporation’s technological- and marketing chains. It is important to understand that this is a rather lengthy process, however, I hope that next year we will see the results of this collaboration between MTS and GenerationS graduates.”

Pevel Ershov, Founder of Directual — finalist of the accelerator: “MTS, just like any large company, is a closed structure. It is very difficult to go through the barrier of various secretaries and other staff. Within the framework of this accelerator we have been able to speak with senior managers of the company at the same level, and we are very grateful to GenerationS organizers for this opportunity. We realized which MTS departments expressed interest in our product. Now, the general public is also aware of our products. To date, we have managed to sell our product to ten customers.”

In 2015, RVC reformatted GenerationS into its line of corporate accelerators in order to help large companies foster cooperation with small businesses. GenerationS-2015 is being implemented in the following areas: Advanced energy generation technologies (Power&Energy), new oil and gas technologies (Oil&Gas), ‘smart’ city and urban planning technologies (SmartCity), automation of manufacturing and robotics, telecommunications technologies (Telecom Idea), technologies for aerospace industry, and BiotechMed.

GenerationS is being conducted in cooperation with the following corporations: RusHydro Group, KES Holding, OJSC MOESK, Energy Without Borders Foundation, PJSC MTS, CJSC Sberbank Technologies, NPO Saturn, S.P. Korolev RKK Energy, MORTON Group, ROO Russian Technical Society, OJSC Tatneftekhiminvest Holding, Johnson&Johnson, Pharmkontract Group, Production Association Sibbiopharm. The corporations take part in the selection, expert evaluation of projects, and acceleration of startups – participants of GenerationS based on their needs in innovative developments and technologies. Provided expert support by RVC and the market players, the corporations are able to implement pilot projects involving cooperation with technology startups aimed at developing innovative growth programs, building agile innovative policies, developing their business, developing new products, and securing new markets.

This year the partners of GenerationS project included hundreds of public entities and private commercial enterprises, such as Foundation for promotion of SMEs in sciences and technology, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, the Strategic Initiatives Agency, the Ministry of Telecoms and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation, the Association of Innovative Regions of the Russian Federation, Rosmolodezh, Innovation Center for the Russian Olympic Committee, VTB24, MasterCard, Alfa-Bank, Kamaflow, SAP, Cisco, IBM, Samsung, Microsoft, UBER, FinPRO, EFKO Group, and many others.