RVC, the Russian state fund-of-funds dedicated to innovation, has announced a partnership with Alkeri Partners, a venture capital and private equity firm from the Kingdom of Bahrain, to create a series of GenerationS corporate accelerators for Russian and international start-ups in Bahrain, EWDN reported.

Run by RVC, GenerationS is a Russian state-backed acceleration platform that connects start-ups with corporations. Founded in 2013, the platform’s infrastructure currently serves over 15,000 start-ups from 30 countries, as well as 400 corporate and ecosystem partners.

Under plans, the new Bahrain accelerators will initially focus on such areas as telecom, fintech, and extraction of commercial minerals.

The agreement signed by the parties earlier this month aims to develop the start-up ecosystem and encourage project exchange between the two countries. The plan is to launch the two accelerator programs starting from 2019-2020. Zain Mobile Telecommunications, the largest telecom corporation in the Middle East, will be involved in the selection of the first batch of telecom projects.

Upon completion of the accelerator period, the selected start-ups will be offered investments, as well as opportunities to cooperate with major firms and development institutions from both countries.