Sber500 seed accelerator teams raise over RUB 240 in investments at demo day

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The best 25 teams working on DeFi, Web 3.0, big data, healthcare technology, marketing, e-com, and logistics start-ups pitched their solutions during a tech show at the international Sber500 seed accelerator’s fourth batch demo day.

Joining the start-ups on stage to assess their performance were real investors and top corporate executives from beeline ventures, X5 Group, Gazprom Neft, Kama Flow, BSF Capital, Orbita Capital, Moscow Seed Fund, and more. By the end of the pitches, start-ups had raised more than RUB 240 mn in investments and got pilot project offers from companies and investors.

Herman Gref, CEO and chairman of the Executive Board, Sberbank:

“The Russian land has always been rich in talent, and our today’s event is a place where you can feel the power of these guys’ intellect and the power of their passion. Sber500 contenders have undergone a colossal selection process and won their right to step onto this stage. Producers will be making movies about the people who have gathered here today. I am sure that today’s demo day and our accelerator attest to the strength of Russian technology. Start-ups are always about the future. And only the best, the most courageous, the most future-oriented visionaries will see these guys as great people.”

At the heart of the demo day concept is an elevator pitch, meaning you only have two minutes to grab investors’ attention. The show also used three other formats — napkin pitches, taxi pitches, and airport pitches — with each of them presented in virtual cities leveraging XR-driven locations.

As many as 1,250 tech start-ups from 36 countries had vied for the fourth batch, but only 150 made it to the two-week online boot camp and 25 top teams from Russia, India, and Turkey qualified for the main round, which included a series of workshops and practical assignments. For 15 weeks, the start-ups had been working with mentors from around the world, boosting their average revenues by 148%. The finalists signed 92 contracts and raised RUB 90 mn before the demo day.

2023-09-22 18:00