The international accelerator will unite ecosystems of Russia, Ireland and the USA

Participants of acceleration will cooperate with experts and investors in Kazan, Moscow, Dublin (Ireland) and Silicon Valley (USA). Participating startups will receive investment up to 8,000,000 rubles from organizers and an opportunity to raise up to EUR 1,000,000 from global partners of the accelerator.

This program will be held with assistance of institutes of development of Russia and Ireland, which will unite their efforts and opportunities to create the additional opportunities for development of startups and technological entrepreneurship. Pulsar Venture Capital, NDRC, Investment and Venture Fund of the Republic of Tatarstan, RVC, Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises in Science and Technology, Enterprise Ireland (the Irish state agency and the third largest seed fund in the world), and a number of the leading venture funds of Russia, Europe, the USA and Asia, functioned as the organizers and the partners of accelerators in the program. Creation of the accelerator was supported by the president of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov.

Pavel Korolev, the CEO of Pulsar Venture Capital: "The main purpose of the Acceleration Program is bringing of Russian startups to the global market. We are intending to create conditions in order that the companies not only get the first investment, but also make their first confident steps in the global market, and find partners, investors and mentors of an appropriate level. In Russia many businessmen, unfortunately, define their market rather narrowly, without considering opportunities available in the international market. Moreover, nowadays it is almost impossible to develop a technological startup without integration into a global innovative ecosystem. Opportunities and threats have to encourage, direct and strengthen business. Within our program, teams will pass the strong international program of acceleration in Russia, Ireland and the USA to become global players of the technological market on return to Russia. We are waiting for teams which aren't afraid of difficulties of an entry to the global market, which have developed a product or a prototype, and — what is even more important have a strong team".

"Long-term experience with startups has revealed a tendency when even the most promising innovative companies at their early stages are facing difficulties with bringing their inventions to the market when using the majority of support tools available in Russia. This is while in a case with the hi-tech startups, only sales in the global market shall be deemed as successful commercialization. The program of acceleration initiated by us is urged to increase quality of offers of technological startups from Russia and to encourage their implementation globally. The program of acceleration is a nation-wide program, that means it is open for startups from all regions of Russia", says the director of RT Investment and Venture Fund Aynur Aydeldinov.

"Development of such program demonstrates that now in Russia we have professional players in the venture industry and they are well integrated into global community and are capable to accompany startups in the markets of the different countries. The Pulsar Venture Capital Company, our partner in GeneratonS, became the initiator of the program. We are glad to see how actively our partners develop and we are glad to witness new opportunities and tools for growth Russian businessmen obtain", commented Gulnara Bikkulova, Director of the Department of the Innovative Markets, the Board Member of RVC.

Gerard Michael McCarthy, Director of Enterprise Ireland in Russia and the CIS: "Launching of the international accelerator with Pulsar VC is the correct step for identification of technological companies from Tatarstan and other regions, which can quickly become the international companies by using experience and the innovative ecosystem of Ireland. To support this initiative, the Enterprise Ireland's Overseas Competitive Start Fund (CSF), together with our Start-Up Entrepreneur Visa program provide an open way for the selected companies of early stages from the former Soviet Union countries and suggest to consider Ireland as a platform for research, development of products and international sales.

In December 2015, the recently registered Countbox Ltd Company became the first Russian startup to receive considerable financing from Enterprise Ireland (High Potential Start-Up Fund).We got to know the Countbox team at the Kazan Venture Fair in April of the same year. We have made a way from the first acquaintance and application to large investment in our first Russian company within seven months. This example has also to inspire other technological companies from Russia to submit the application for the program in waiting for truthful and fast results".

Applications for participation in the accelerator are accepted on the website of the program until April 3, 2016. 50 teams which will have an opportunity to take part in the accelerator will be announced in April. After that, the participating companies will pass selection procedure and will be distributed among international programs, where they will represent their projects before the venture investors at the largest conferences in Kazan, Dublin and the Silicon Valley. Having passed the accelerator, the teams will return to Russia to participate in the program final.

The companies from the following industries can take part in the program: IT, new tools systems, petrochemical technologies, biotechnologies, future medicine, industrial technologies and new materials.

What will get the technological startups taken up to the acceleration program?

• Entry into the international markets
• Access to the engineering centres and other support services
• Work on the project with the leading international experts and mentors
• Investment up to 8,000,000 rubles from program organizers and up to 1,000,000 euros investment from the international partners and co-organizers.

Let us recall that earlier, in spring 2015 a number of key agreements and memorandums between different entities were signed. In particular, an agreement between the Irish accelerator of NDRC (Carl Pauer) and accelerator of Pulsar Venture Capital (Pavel Korolev) was signed. Besides, the Kazan Federal University and Pulsar Venture Capital agreed on a joint program of acceleration and commercialization of developments. On October 28, 2015, within the Open Innovations Forum held in Moscow, an agreement was signed between Pulsar Venture Capital accelerator and institutes of development as follows: Investment and Venture Fund of the Republic of Tatarstan, RVC, and The Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises in Science and Technology which acted as co-organizers of the program.