Dmitry Medvedev: “In 2020, the Skolkovo Foundation Achieved Significant Financial Results.”

30 April 2021

The turnover for Skolkovo residents in 2020 showed a 60% increase that amounted to 160 billion rubles (€1.7 billion), according to Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the security council of the Russian Federation and chairman of the board of trustees of the Skolkovo Foundation. The overall amount of investment into technology companies by the end of the year amounted to 18.8 billion rubles (€208 million).

The results of the work of Skolkovo Innovation Center for 2020 were discussed during a meeting of the Foundation’s board of trustees. Dmitry Medvedev emphasized the importance of Skolkovo’s work for developing priority sectors, including those that fit into the framework of the National Technology Initiative program called “Digital Economy.” The implementation and scaling of Skolkovo residents’ solutions are technologically changing the face of medicine, education, and other societally important areas. The center’s infrastructure as a platform allows for pilot projects to demonstrate clearly their effectiveness during tests, but also to bring regulations up to date.

Dmitry Medvedev, chairman of the board of trustees of the Skolkovo Foundation: “Due to the pandemic, the year was very difficult but we nonetheless succeeded in avoiding a decline and achieved significant financial results. Skolkovo residents’ revenue in 2020 grew by 60% and reached 160 billion rubles. Nearly 20 billion rubles were invested into technology companies. The volume of production from Skolkovo companies increased by nearly a third due to their ideas and hard work, and this is an absolute success for an innovative business during a crisis period. Now the task for the Foundation is to support innovations through complex projects by implementing and scaling high-tech solutions. To realize the project, it is also important to use the support from state development institutes – the VEB.RF platform.”

Arkady Dvorkovich, the Skolkovo Foundation chairman, then made a speech citing the report on the results of Skolkovo’s activities. In 2020, 510 startups became Skolkovo Foundation residents, representing a 22% increase in comparison to the previous year, and the overall number of residents reached 2758. The number of job positions in the ecosystem grew by 34% to 50.5 thousand. Skolkovo residents gained 710 patents of which 225 were on foreign territory.

Arkady Dvorkovich, chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation: “The main tasks set for the Skolkovo Foundation were more than fulfilled. That is, to promote the creation and development of startups at the early stages, create scientific and educational infrastructure, and also a town space on Moscow territory that is also close to the Moscow region. During the year of the pandemic, we succeeded in securing record growth in the number of startups and record growth in their revenue. This is a truly great success. The increase in participants numbered more than 500. I must note – and this is important – that 700 new companies appeared and 200 ceased operations. Such a rotation of early-stage startups is an absolutely healthy phenomenon, and we are after all investing primarily in people, their skills, and future success. It should also be mentioned that the growth in revenue met the wildest expectations. It reached 60%; that is, the Skolkovo Foundation correctly identified key areas – online education, medicine, production automation, and the monitoring of public spaces, infrastructure, and dangerous installations, including through the use of space technologies. This was all in particular demand during the era of the coronavirus.”

In comparison to 2019, the number of innovative companies with a turnover of over 500 million rubles (€5.5 million at today’s exchange rate) almost doubled to 78.

In 2020, the status of regional operators was assigned to four technoparks: “Russki” in Vladivostok, “Yugra” in Khanty-Mansiysk, the Center of Innovative Development in Tomsk, and “Mordoviya” in Saransk. The overall number of regional operators reached sixteen, and a program to accredit representatives in the regions where there are no operators was launched; nine have already gained accreditation.

Viktor Vekselberg, the chairman of the board of trustees of Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology and member of the board of directors of the Skolkovo Foundation, submitted the idea of making Zhores Alferov an honorary citizen of the Skolkovo Innovation Center. The decision was adopted unanimously.

Viktor Vekselberg, chairman of the board of trustees of Skoltech: “The name Zhores Alferov is well known both in Russia and abroad. His contribution to world science is undisputed. Zhores Ivanovich was a Nobel Prize laureate, a great scientist, and an exceptional person. We are very lucky that he was an active participant, supporter, and ideologue in Skolkovo from the early days. Zhores Ivanovich always saw Skolkovo as a large international project and platform to communicate with international investors. Thanks to him, the scientific advisory council of the Foundation comprises scientists that are already famous in the world’s scientific community.”

Alexander Kuleshov, the rector of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology talked about the institute’s activities. The number of publications on Web of Science and Scopus per professor reached 6.4 units and 63% of these were published in journals during the first quarter; 13% were in prestigious journals such as Nature Index. According to the international SIR (SCImago Institution Ranking) rating, Skoltech took first place for innovation in Russia and second place in Eastern Europe. The overall number of startups created by professors, students, and Skoltech graduates exceeded a hundred. Fifty-seven of them gained Skolkovo residency status. A science infrastructure is being created at Skoltech with the “Nemchinovka” Federal Research Center, the Russian Quantum Center, and over thirty world-class laboratories located there.

Aside from that, the chairman of the board of trustees of the Skolkovo Foundation Dmitry Medvedev met with Skolkovo residents and partners during his visit. The companies Cyberphysics and Computer Vision Systems presented a project of a digital double of a pipe plant, while “VRSim” presented on the launch of its project titled “XR-center for fighting particularly dangerous infections.” The company “Viriom” presented innovative development methods for drugs to treat HIV in Russia, and the startup “Biorg” presented its service for processing electronic documents. “G-Core Labs” presented a project to create an innovative cloud infrastructure for online businesses as well as the state.

Source
Related news
Game software working group to be established in Russia — expert
Sberbank has no critical dependencies on Western suppliers — CEO
Number of Russia’s IT industry employees rises by 12% in 2022