Government of Moscow and Sber to host Moscow Startup Summit

On October 1–2, an international summit on technology entrepreneurship and innovation - Moscow Startup Summit will take place in Moscow. The event is organized by the Government of Moscow and Sber.

According to Deputy Mayor of Moscow Natalia Sergunina, the summit will bring together innovators, investors, major corporations, government agencies, and research institutions from Russia as well as BRICS and SCO countries.

“International investment funds and startups from 25 countries have already confirmed participation, including Belarus, China, India, Serbia, Brazil, Turkey, and the UAE. Experts will discuss ways to support talented developers, successful practices of implementing and scaling modern solutions, and promising areas for future cooperation,” noted Natalia Sergunina.

The summit program will feature presentations, workshops, panel discussions, and sessions. More than 150 leading industry players will share their expertise.

In addition, an exhibition will showcase startups, including residents of the Moscow Innovation Cluster.

“The summit will connect Moscow’s innovation ecosystem with Sber’s AI expertise and infrastructure to support technological entrepreneurship and the creative economy. The program is designed to deliver tangible results: startups will secure pilot projects and investments; corporations and investors will find promising projects; government representatives will reach new international agreements. A strong focus will also be placed on regional innovation, alongside Sber500 international seed accelerator’s Demo Day and roadshows  by youth startup teams. We expect more than 4,000 participants from Russia, BRICS, and SCO countries,” said Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy Chairman of Sberbank’s Executive Board.

The summit will take place in SberCity, the smart city hub. All sessions will be streamed live on the event’s website.

Innovations award

As part of the conference, the Startup Summit Awards will be presented for the first time to recognize contributions to innovation development.

“We received over 1,700 applications from 79 Russian regions. The most popular category is ‘Startups,’ which gathered about 1,000 entries. Moscow leads with 550 applicants, including around 270 participants from the Moscow Innovation Cluster,” said Natalia Sergunina.

St. Petersburg ranked second in applications, followed by Moscow Region and Tatarstan.

Entries will be reviewed by a jury consisting of business leaders, well-known entrepreneurs, investors, government officials, and representatives of academic institutions.

“Artificial intelligence is one of today’s key technologies: every third startup that applied presented a case in the ‘Best AI Solution’ category. Symbolically, determining finalists in this category will rely on our GigaChat neural model. This is a real example of how AI strengthens expert work and helps identify projects that can shape the future of Russia’s tech market,” said Alexander Vedyakhin.

Projects will be evaluated based on innovation, quality and scale of partnerships, sustainable revenue growth, contribution to improving and promoting the technological ecosystem, and the creation of new growth opportunities for participants.

The award is established by the Government of Moscow and Sber. Its goal is to highlight best practices, encourage large companies and investors to support emerging entrepreneurs, and enhance the economic potential of Russian regions.

The award ceremony will be held on October 2.