19 April 2018, Moscow – Sberbank in partnership with the Internet Initiative Development Fund (IIDF) are putting together a programme for accelerating intelligent robotics projects. The programme will focus on projects from promising areas, such as the creation of personal robot assistants, logistics robots, collaborative industrial robot manipulators, unmanned autonomous transport vehicles (road and air), and industrial exoskeletons.
Start-up teams from across Russia have three months to refine the prototypes of their robot solutions in the workshops of Sberbank’s Robotics Laboratory. In addition, during this time they must find points of growth for business and channels for attracting new clients, focus on the most profitable segments, and prepare a minimum viable product. If there is demand for the products at Sberbank’s business divisions, the teams will be able to put together their pilot projects at Sberbank.
“Sberbank is one of Russia’s largest tech companies and has a demand for robotic technology,” commented Stanislav Kuznetsov, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank. “The launch of a corporate accelerator that concentrates on intelligent robotics will help us find and deploy new projects and tech solutions that will enhance processes at the bank and have a positive impact on the business of clients and partners who are part of our ecosystem. To assist the start-ups, we are ready to provide them with direct access to the resources of our robotics laboratory.”
The IIDF’s experts will provide the accelerator with consultancy, educational, marketing and legal support and also set up meetings with some of the markets top specialists and individual trackers.
“The launch of a joint accelerator is a major landmark for the market and presents new opportunities for start-ups,” said Kirill Varlamov, CEO of the IIDF. “IT companies will receive support from the IIDF and potential access to the client base of Russia’s largest bank. In our eyes this segment is very promising – according to our estimates, the global robotic tech market will grow to $54 bln by 2020.”
You can register for the programme on sberbank.iidf.ru.
Further details about the programme will be announced on 24 April at the Sberbank Robotics Laboratory’s stand at Skolkovo Robotics Forum.
The Robotics Laboratory is a Sberbank division that was created in 2017. The lab’s objective is to research new intelligent robot technology, develop prototypes of products and carry out pilot projects for Sberbank Group. The lab focuses on the most promising areas of intelligent robotics: collaborative robots, logistics robots, unmanned autonomous transport vehicles (road and air), industrial exoskeletons, customer service robots, and personal assistants. As the lab is part of Sberbank’s community of laboratories, it cooperates closely with other divisions in the following areas: AI, cybersecurity, augmented and virtual reality, and other areas. The lab’s team is made up of professional engineers with business experience and managers who have worked at development institutions and corporations.
The Internet Initiative Development Fund is a Russian venture capital fund. The fund’s portfolio includes more than 400 companies. According to statistics published by VentureSource (a Dow Jones product), the IIDF is one of Europe’s five most active venture funds by number of deals. It invests in early-stage tech companies and provides start-ups with support in the areas of training and consultancy. The IIDF also participates in formulating methods for regulating online business and the venture capital sector.
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