GS Venture became a member of the expert jury of the ITMO Invest Day

Representative of the GS Venture corporate venture fund, a part of GS Group, took part in the investment session of the startup accelerator ITMO Future Technology – ITMO Invest Day – held on December 11, 2014 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The event featured presentations on 7 biomedical and 7 technological early-stage projects.

The final day of the startup accelerator ITMO Future Technology attracted industry experts and representatives of Russian and foreign venture capital funds interested in finding technological projects. Anton Aleksishin, Venture Project Specialist, the GS Venture corporate venture fund, took part in the investment session ITMO Invest Day as a guest expert. Despite the fact that the Fund is focused on the startups in the fields of telecommunications, microelectronics and nanotechnology, the projects related to biomedicine and technological solutions are also of concern for GS Group. The speaker noted that solutions provided on the ITMO Invest Day meet the highest requirements of investors.

"Startups that are required for innovation development of our business are uncommon. However, we consider it essential to participate in accelerators and build long-term relationships with project teams, – comments Anton Aleksishin, Venture Project Specialist, GS Venture. – Such projects as the ITMO Future Technology accelerator are the basis for innovations growth and development in Russia."

Business accelerator ITMO Future Technology allows the authors of innovative technological projects to receive individual advice from mentors and present their projects to members of the professional community. Potential investors get a chance to explore the startups market and get contacts of promising teams. The investment session ITMO Invest Day gathered startups from St. Petersburg, Samara, Tomsk and Ulan-Ude. According to the results of the presentations, the jury chose five winners who will obtain investment support.

ITMO Future Technology, the first business accelerator for technology startups, was launched in the autumn of 2014. The University ITMO, former Saint Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics, acts as the organizer of the business accelerator activities. The University was also a member of the jury of the International physics contest held by the GS Group holding company for students from non-capital cities that ended on 6 December.