UNN innovators in the fields of IT and biomedicine took part in Russian StartUp Tour Road Show in Nizhny Novgorod from February 17 to 18. This event connects innovators with the business community. It is part of the Russian Startup Tour, which is organized by Russia’s Skolkovo Foundation and its partners representing the key national players in the field of innovation.  

Road Show took place in a historical building of Nizhny Novgorod Trade Fair. The 2-day event included a business pitch competition, panel discussions, thematic sessions highlighting current innovation trends, and meetings with angel investors and mentors. Innovators presented their ideas and projects in four fields:  IT, efficient energy, biomedicine and industrial technologies. Panel discussions featured an impressive line-up of speakers including leaders of organizations which serve as catalysts for innovation and entrepreneurship by supporting leading-edge research and bridging the gap between the laboratory and marketplace as well as a contribution from UNN Rector Evgeny Chuprunov in the first panel discussion ‘Russia’s innovation landscape.’

UNN experts, notably Mr Alexey Rubtsov, Head of Proof-of-Concept Department at UNN Technology Commercialization Center, joined the jury for the business pitch competition. UNN innovators gave brief overviews of their projects describing the commercial potential of their research innovations.

Six out of 13 IT projects from different regions of Russia (the event was interregional) came out of labs at Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod (UNN): Smart Wardrobe, a hardware and software solution for people who wish to plan how they will dress up for various occasions; Educational Web Quest Designer, a web portal adapted for various training purposes; Creative Skills Development, a set of web courses, Secret Agent, new copyright protection software, Cardio Analytics, an Android-based mobile app to help monitor blood pressure and forecast a user’s general physical condition; and Ornament, a microclimate analyzer and specific weather forecaster which was developed by Alexey Umnov, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Radio Physics.

Ornament won the first place in the competition and Cardio Analytics won the third one.

In the biomed section, nine UNN projects were pitched to the jury, and Mediclab diabetes monitoring system was awarded the second place prize.

Summing up the participation of the UNN innovators in the event, UNN Vice-Rector for Innovation Kendrick White said: “The StartUp Tour program is extremely valuable from the standpoint that it brings people from Skolkovo and other investors out into the regions. So, it’s our chance to show that we’re a leader among Russia’s regions, and we can actually develop a sustainable pipeline of projects. We need to link our programs here with other programs dealing with investors, business and industry from Moscow and internationally. I see our role as a very important facilitator in connecting our young innovators together with the rest of the Russian innovation ecosystem community.”