Moscow Startup Summit provides platform for tech alliances – Chinadaily.com.cn
Moscow Startup Summit provides platform for tech alliances
chinadaily.com.cn |
Updated: 2026-09-22 09:19
Alexey, how would you assess the current state of the global venture market in 2026? What trends and signals matter most for startups today, and what technologies are investors most actively backing?
The global venture market in 2026 shows that investors are no longer buying just a slick pitch deck or user base growth; they are buying unit economics, the speed of a product’s integration into existing industrial chains, and a clear path to profitability.
The first important trend is the shift from models to solutions that perform a specific job. Businesses no longer need yet another chatbot or a flashy generative AI demo. They need products that take on a complete business process: analyzing documents, writing and verifying code, automating sales and procurement, managing logistics, assisting engineers, or monitoring industrial equipment. Deploying such solutions requires far less capital than developing one’s own foundational model, while the competitive advantage is built on industry knowledge, data, integrations, and access to clients.
The second trend is the sovereignization of critical infrastructure. Technology startups offering independent hardware and software stacks for industry and finance are gaining access to government contracts. That makes them attractive to investors because it signals revenue predictability, as such contracts typically involve multi-year cooperation. And even if that cooperation eventually ends, the startup still earns a “credit of trust” in the market.
In late September, Moscow will once again become Russia’s premier startup venue. Tell us about this year’s Moscow Startup Summit: what can participants expect?
The Moscow Startup Summit will take place on Sept 29 and 30 in SberCity. It is a place where the urban environment itself serves as a testing ground for technology. The summit is organized by Sber together with the Government of Moscow. The key idea of this year’s event is to transform five key industries through technological solutions from startups: medicine and biotechnology, education and the creative sectors, agriculture and food production, construction and urbanism, and smart devices and robotics. The main goal of the summit is to facilitate deals between investors, corporations, and startups from these industries, and to shorten the path from technology to working, applied solutions.
Which of these industries offer the greatest potential for startups?
If I were to rank them by investment attractiveness and speed of adoption, I would highlight three areas:
1. Robotics and physical AI. This is the hottest sector right now. The shortage of frontline personnel in manufacturing and logistics has reached a critical point, and startups building components and software for them are in high demand. Robots are no longer science fiction; they have become a tool for preserving business margins.
2. Biomedicine. The potential here is tremendous, but it requires patience. We are talking not so much about new drugs but more about predictive diagnostics platforms and digital twins of patients. The market is willing to pay for reducing treatment costs and preventing hospitalizations. By the way, startups from Tsinghua University presented at the Moscow Startup Summit last year. One of the teams presented a startup called Invisible Doctor, led by 27-year-old Ma Xinyu from Beijing. Their solution consists of smart contact lenses powered by artificial intelligence for health monitoring. The startup generated great interest among summit guests from various countries.
3. Construction. Today, real estate development is transforming into a genuine IT business. There is demand for software for building information modeling (BIM), automated control systems for construction monitoring and incident reduction, as well as for AI-powered analysis of procurement documentation across all construction phases, which helps accelerate the process and reduce the likelihood of errors.
Do you see interest from Russian startups in entering foreign markets? How interested are they in China and other Asian destinations today?
The interest has always been there, but now it has changed qualitatively. The region has a highly competitive technology market with many strong local companies, and a Russian founder can gain traction in Southeast Asia or the Middle East only with a unique or deeply localized product. If a Russian startup is interested in entering the Asian market, it is not about quick money. Only those who are ready to play the long game and invest in product refinement commit to this, for the sake of access to a large market and audience.
Why should startup founders from China follow what is happening at the Moscow Startup Summit?
For Chinese technology entrepreneurs, the Moscow Startup Summit is not just a showcase of Russian startup achievements, but a strategic radar. Today, China is one of the key players in the global AI race. The country is known for its product mindset, decision-making speed, and ability to rapidly scale successful practices. Russia’s historical strength is deep tech. The summit will allow Chinese colleagues to study Russian developments in this field and assess their relevance, including for building breakthrough AI solutions around them.
Additionally, for Chinese entrepreneurs developing B2B startups and planning to enter the Russian market, the summit can serve as a tool for studying real demand from players across various industries. But most importantly, the event serves as a platform for finding technology alliances. This is exactly the place to find a partner or co-founder from among Russian teams to create joint projects tailored to the requirements of the Russian B2B sector and government.
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