The forum is considered one of the biggest events of the venture market. It is organized by the Investment and Venture Fund of the Republic of Tatarstan (IVF RT) and the Russian Venture Capital Association (RVCA) with the participation of the Government of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Russian Venture Company (RVC), the Foundation for Assistance to Innovation, Skolkovo and others.
The opening ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, the Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Andrey Fursenko, the Executive Director of the Russian Venture Capital Association (RVCA) Albina Nikkonen.
Welcoming participants of the XII Forum, Rustam Minnikhanov remembered how it all began.
Recall that 13 years ago: the First District Venture Fair, organized by Technopark “Idea” and RVCA, was held in 2005 in Kazan. Support in the preparation and holding of the fair was provided by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, the Office of the Plenipotentiary Representative Office of the President of Russia in the Privolzhsky Federal District.
In the first event of this format, 53 innovative companies took part in the Volga region: representatives of Russian and foreign venture private equity funds, leading specialists of investment companies and banks, managers of legal and consulting organizations. Following the results of the fair, 6 companies received investment proposals, another 17 participants acquired strategic partners. Then it was decided to hold the II Venture Fair in 2007, and starting from 2008, the event became an annual event, having become the Russian Venture Forum.
Today, opening the forum, Rustam Minnikhanov noted the importance of the forum for Russia: “I welcome all participants - our foreign partners and representatives of Russian regions - and I hope that this forum will be an excellent platform for communicating and exchanging experience in the field of innovation. This is very important for our region and for our country as a whole. Welcome!”
Immediately after the solemn opening, the event participants and honorary guests inspected the exposition of innovative companies participating in the Acceleration Program of 2018 and an exposition of the infrastructure for supporting the innovations of the Republic of Tatarstan. Among them - an exposition of Technopark “Idea”, the activity of which was presented by the Acting General Director of Technopark Oleg Ibragimov. He spoke about the results of the “Idea” activities for 2017, the implementation of programs of the Foundation for Assistance to Innovation, as well as the prospects for cooperation with the Kazan National Research Technological University in the field of technology reengineering for large enterprises of the republic on the basis of the KNRTU laboratories and the nanotechnology center.
In the afternoon, the participants of the Russian Venture Forum will participate in panel sessions. The result of this part of the forum will be the definition of several of the most promising innovative projects, which will receive up to 10 million rubles of investments, as well as the opportunity to work closely with specialists from leading venture funds in the world.
