Lobachevsky University delegation takes part in the Russian Venture Forum
Representatives of Lobachevsky University took part in the 20th Russian Venture Forum. This forum is regarded as one of the key events for the tech industry.It serves as a major platform for connecting startups, investors, and representatives of large corporations, fostering the growth of innovative entrepreneurship. The main activities of the forum took place at the Kazan Expo International Exhibition Centre.
The exhibition part of the forum at Kazan Expo featured about 150 innovative solutions, including 30 foreign projects from India, China, Iran, Belarus, and other countries.The event showcased several medical technologies, a large block of projectsfocused on the design and programming of unmanned aerial vehicles — ranging from training modules to flying delivery drones. A hybrid tracked all-terrain vehicle was also demonstrated.
At the forum's plenary session, speakers included Andrey Fursenko, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation; Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education; Maxim Kolesnikov, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development; Rustam Minnikhanov, President of the Republic of Tatarstan, and others.
Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education, spoke about university technology entrepreneurship. He also outlined five major changes in the support system for tech entrepreneurship: merging acceleration programmes and linking them to research projects focused on technological leadership; introducing a differentiated approach to student grants; awarding the best projects with digital certificates for free access to AI technologies; developing new tools for mature startups to overcome the "valley of death"; and integrating with flagship programmes (Priority 2030 and Advanced Engineering Schools) to link science with real market entry.
At the forum, Ayrat Usmanov, Advisor to the UNN Rectorate, organised working meetings with Mikhail Fedotov, Head of the Startup Studio at Lobachevsky University. Development teams presented projects that required financial and expert support. Mikhail Fedotov conducted a preliminary assessment of the business models and unit economics of the startups, providing practical recommendations to the authors.For one of the projects, a separate meeting was arranged with Roman Renzin, Head of the Gorky Tech Autonomous Non-Commercial Organization, where the parties discussed the possibility of including the project in an acceleration programme and selecting relevant support measures.
