28 April 2018

Best Technological Startups of GenerationS Accelerator Announced

The Finale of the GenerationS corporate accelerator for technological startups annually held by RVC took place in the multimedia space Tesla Place in Moscow on April 27. Three winners shared the Grand Prix of RUB 16M (~USD 260K), and 20 finalists received in-kind prizes from the Partners of the accelerator.

The first place and RUB 8M prize (~USD 130K) was given to the night vision system IR WAY. The system provides the driver with a high-resolution picture of the road in darkness or poor weather conditions at a distance up to 1.5 km. The core smart component of the project is an algorithm to process and create real time images. The technology shows outstanding performance in compare with similar solutions already available on market.

The second place and the prize of RUB 5M (~USD 80K) awarded to the Hydraulic packer for oil production. A simple, modular, maintainable and operationally adjustable hydraulic packer enables to reduce duration of works in oil wells with casing strings of a small diameter (51-108 mm) up to 2-4 times and to reduce its cost by 3-5 times by changing set-up method, which is carried out under the pressure. The packer can be applied both in the oil and gas and construction industries.

The top three includes the VR Concept, the project presented software for 3D modelling and teamwork with digital twins in VR. The team received RUB 3M (~USD 50K).

"The finalists and the winners of GenerationS accelerator demonstrated qualities that entrepreneurs should have to be successful - the ability to see changing trends and opportunities, to apply technological solutions not in a single industry, but also in related fields, the willingness to work hard and to adapt their products to the real needs of customers. Every team presented today has a high potential to evolve into a successful business. I am sure that due to a thoughtful work on marketing and investment sides of projects during the acceleration program these startups are able to capture niche markets in the target industries and to build a fruitful cooperation with partners.", - said Ekaterina Petrova, Head of GenerationS accelerator.

The GenerationS Finale was an epic technological show, which united a few hundreds of entrepreneurs, VCs, corporates and representatives of innovation ecosystem. During the event, 35 best startups in the field of energy, metallurgy, agriculture, advanced manufacturing, FinTech, fashion and media presented their solutions and, for the first time ever, startups from a brand new dual-use technologies track. The most expected moment of the Finale was the pitch session of the seven finalists to the expert Jury – one startup from each corporate accelerator track.

GenerationS Partners also awarded the selected winners in the Special nominations.

Microsoft invited the project Robin to collaborate on a system of a voice biometric identification. The team will receive consulting support from Microsoft technology and business experts, as well as free access to Microsoft Azure cloud services.

The Grant Partner of GenerationS, the Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises in Science and Technology, granted three finalists – IR WAY, Geo-Information Platform with a 3D interface and Robin – 2M roubles (~ USD 32K) each for further R&D.

The best in the Digital Innovations nomination, introduced by Beeline, one of the largest telecommunications operators in Russia, is the iTalk project, which provides a solution for synchronous speech recognition during a conversation on a mobile phone, and for transferring it into a text format. The iTalk know-how can be integrated into Beeline b2b-solution, as well as it can improve the quality of telephone communication for customers with hearing impairment. The startup team will have the opportunity to develop their digital products together with Beeline.

A recognized Russian food market leader EFKO Group pointed out four finalists in the Special nomination Biotechnologies and Genomics in the Agro-Industrial Sector. The winner is the startup developed a technology for fodder microbial protein production from a raw vegetable waste. The team received a special prize from the EFKO Group and a certificate for the acceleration program at the Innovation Center “Biruch-NT” (EFKO Group R&D division) and the Biruch Educational Center.

Representatives of EFKO Group also awarded the Decon-PIT for effective processing of animal waste; the project working on biotic-resistant sugar beet hybrids; and the project focuses on a technology of secondary bio products deep processing in an inert gas environment. All three teams will also take part in the EFKO Group corporate acceleration program.

The best startups in the Marinet NTI (the National Technology Initiative) nominations are Yochting, a unified interface platform for yacht tourists; Hydrotower, a maritime cyclone hydroelectric station; ProFiShip, a smart factory for zero-waste processing of marine bioresources; the project for environmental safety and processing of fish waste; and the startup suggested a technology for distributed fibre-optic hydroacoustic sensors.

Neuronet NTI Working Group chose a web application VideoFerret, which can transform any video into an interactive game.

Five projects became the winners in the HealthNet NTI nomination: developer of new antibiotics against MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and other resistant bacteria; biopolymer matrices for regenerative tissue genesis; yRisk, a medical genetic test to determine the risks of cancer development; and cell-engineering biomimetic structure for osteoplasty. Projects selected by the NTI Working Groups will be able to join the NTI Road maps and receive comprehensive administrative and financial support.

A special prize from Vienna Business Agency went to the team of the FinCase. Its developers created a system for scoring cost analysis, allowing determining the market value of goods, services and transactions. The team members will join a group of twenty best startups from all around the world to take part in a training program in Vienna this spring. In addition, the team will visit the largest production facilities in Austria, will take part in the Pioneers Festival and will be able to present their project to investors and corporations.

In 2017 alone, 3,630 applications from 18 countries were submitted to participate in the GenerationS acceleration program. 20+ Russian and international corporations took part in the selection and acceleration of projects, including Microsoft, Gazprom Neft, Faberlic, STS Media, NMGK Group, ODC Saturn (Rostec), Voentelecom, RosElectronics, Ilyushin Aviation Complex, Krastsvetmet, R&D Park and others.

100+ startup teams became the GenerationS participants. During the acceleration program many of them signed agreements with GenerationS Partners, launched joint pilot projects or attracted investments.

Photo Report of the GenerationS-2017 Finale

Reference information

About GenerationS

GenerationS is a platform for the corporate accelerators, where the best tech startups, selected through multi-level expertise, receive assistance with intensive growth and wide opportunities to raise investments and build partnership with corporations. The acceleration program has been held by RVC since 2013. GenerationS is organized in cooperation with the large Russian and global corporations, which are looking for innovative technologies and ready to foster open innovations.
http://en.generation-startup.ru/

About RVC

RVC is a government Fund of funds and the Institute of Development of the Russian Federation. The main objectives of RVC are encouraging the creation of Russia's Venture Capital industry and performance the functions of the Project Office of the National Technology Initiative (NTI). RVC’s authorized capital amounts to RUB 30 bn (~USD 500M). RVC’s capital is owned in full by the Russian Federation represented by the Russian Federal Agency for State Property (Rosimuschestvo). The total number of RVC-backed funds has reached 26, with their total size of RUB 35.5 bn. The share of RVC is RUB 22.6 bn (~USD 360M). The number of innovative companies approved for investment by RVC funds has reached 222 in 218. The total amount of approved investments is RUB 18 bn (~USD 300M).
https://www.rvc.ru/en/