Tens of Millions of Rubles in Investment and Sales: MGIMO Ventures Participants Reflect on the Fifth Cohort

15 September 2026

On 15 September, MGIMO hosted the closing event of the fifth cohort of the MGIMO Ventures accelerator. The day featured an Investment Committee session and Demo Day, where 19 technology startups presented their projects and programme results to investors, corporate representatives and industry experts.

The event, held on the small stage of MGIMO’s Conference Hall, brought together more than 100 guests. They were welcomed by Artem Malgin, MGIMO First Vice-Rector and Vice-Rector for Development:

“Over the past five years, we have built an entirely new environment at MGIMO and around it. Our project brings together those who support us — first and foremost, Startech.vc — and, above all, those who come to us with their ideas as participants, coaches, mentors and potential investors.”

Artem Malgin also emphasised the importance of the closing event as the culmination of three months of work:

“I believe that today everyone will be able to demonstrate what they have achieved over the past few months: how they have changed their approach, improved the way they present themselves, and shown that they have grown — become a little clearer, more engaging, more mature and more professional.”

Marina Petrova, Executive Director of MGIMO Endowment and Co-Head of the MGIMO Ventures Accelerator, spoke about how the approaches to selecting and working with teams had evolved during the fifth cohort:

“I would like to highlight that the Accelerator provides a unique environment where education and research meet technology and entrepreneurship. A great deal has been accomplished over these three months: we tested some projects at MGIMO and others at our partner companies. Today’s event is just a snapshot of everything achieved during the acceleration programme. We will use these results as a starting point and continue developing the projects and building partnerships.”

Alexandra Linnikova, Executive Director of Startech Base and Co-Head of the MGIMO Ventures Accelerator, outlined the metrics investors focus on when meeting startups:

“At the early stages, investors primarily ask about revenue, customers and repeat sales following a pilot. These were the areas around which we structured our mentoring and progress tracking. Not every team closed an investment round during the cohort, but almost all of them secured paying customers or signed pilot agreements. With results like these, they are ready to approach venture funds and corporations.”

The Fifth Cohort: Programme Overview

Applications for the fifth cohort were open from mid-May to mid-June. The organisers received more than 130 applications; 36 projects advanced to in-person pitching, and 22 teams were selected for the main programme.

This year, the focus was on startups with validated market demand that were ready to launch pilot projects and enter into negotiations with investors. The programme covered a range of sectors, including AI/ML, SaaS, AgroTech, MedTech, UrbanTech, IoT, EdTech, Robotics and FoodTech.

The cohort kicked off on 2 July at VK Tech’s Moscow venue, one of the programme’s partners. The special guest was entrepreneur Dmitry Sigov, founder of the PropTech startup Keygo.

The teams then worked with coaches and took part in expert sessions and B2B meetings with corporate clients. A professional development programme was delivered at MGIMO’s School of Business and International Proficiency. It was open not only to Accelerator participants but also to anyone interested. Halfway through the programme, on 3 August, a business breakfast on personal branding was held with Grigory Solovyov, creator of the Marmeladych project, and Ekaterina Zinchenko, founder of Pure Sense.

During the programme, participants:

• Launched more than 45 pilot projects, with around 30 more currently under negotiation;
• Raised more than RUB 20 million in investment, with a further RUB 100 million-plus in potential deals under discussion with investors;
• Generated more than RUB 20 million in sales, with approximately RUB 9 million more in pre-sales and signed contracts;
• Received grants totalling more than RUB 1.5 million;
• Signed more than 15 partnership agreements.

The Final Event

Nineteen finalists took part in the Investment Committee session and Demo Day. Each team had three minutes to present its project, outline the results achieved during the acceleration programme and make its investment pitch, followed by up to seven minutes of questions from the jury.

The jury comprised:

• Martin Kohlhauser, Managing Partner at Chak VC and angel investor;
• Lyubov Kosvintseva, Marketing and Scouting Manager at the Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF);
• Vyacheslav Turpanov, Managing Partner at Tractor Fund;
• Alexander Pefteev, Head of Technology Scouting at VTB Accelerator;
• Ivan Kopytov, Programme Manager at Yandex Cloud.

The event also brought together experts and representatives of MGIMO Endowment’s corporate partners, including Gazprombank, VTB, VK, Alfa-Bank, VSMPO-AVISMA, X5 Retail and other companies.

The Projects

Trendsee is an AI-powered content creation platform. It identifies formats and trends that perform well in a brand’s niche and turns them into ready-to-use scripts and carousels.

During the programme, the platform attracted more than 50,000 new users, received around 8,000 payments and generated over RUB 15 million in new revenue.

Loona AI is a SaaS platform for restaurants, offering CRM, marketing automation, a booking system and AI-powered tools.

The team completed more than 40 sales worth approximately RUB 1 million, launched pilot projects in Russia and Kazakhstan, and signed two partnership agreements. Restaurant chains with 10–25 locations are currently in the sales pipeline.

RevRoute is a B2B platform that helps SaaS companies build partner sales channels. It handles attribution, partner payments and compliance.

During the programme, the project progressed from zero to six deals, including its first long-term contract. It also received an offer to participate in the Yandex Cloud Boost grant programme.

BrainHR is an AI-powered platform for recruitment and personnel assessment.

The project attracted 10 new paying clients, including Magnit, Skyeng and ITMO University. Sales totalled approximately RUB 2 million. A pilot project with MGIMO Endowment was also launched.

Baby Helper is a mobile app for parents of children under the age of three.

The app has more than 45,000 downloads and over 9,000 monthly active users. The team conducted three pilot projects, two of which were paid, and doubled its B2B revenue during the programme.

Verbatica is a foreign language learning platform featuring AI-powered tools.

The project launched 12 corporate pilot programmes, including with Cherkizovo, Flowwow, PSB Bank, Dodo and PIK, signed six partnerships and increased its monthly revenue approximately 3.5 times.

Ninja Goods is a vertical farming project that delivers produce using electric transport.

Two of its three pilot projects in the hospitality and office sectors have progressed to contracts, while subscriptions generate approximately RUB 100,000 per month. The team is currently negotiating with a venture fund and a private investor.

Polyptron AI is an AI-powered clinical decision support system designed to detect colorectal cancer.

During the cohort, the project obtained a registration certificate for its medical device, launched three pilot projects at clinics in Moscow and Chelyabinsk, secured pre-sales worth approximately RUB 9 million and raised RUB 15 million from a strategic investor.

Bertech develops AI models for agricultural dispatch and operations management.

The team completed its first paid pilot and made its first sale, with three more pilot projects currently under development.

Living Greens develops equipment for displaying potted greens in retail stores.

The project conducted four pilot projects, three of which were paid, and reached agreements on pilot projects with X5 and Lenta. Seventeen display units have been leased out, generating approximately RUB 230,000 in monthly revenue. Investment terms are currently under discussion with three venture funds.

Roden is a robotic platform for body therapy.

Four pilot projects are currently underway at different stages, including one with a chain fitness club in the UAE and another with a wellness resort in the Moscow Region.

VR RUS is an online school where classes take place in virtual worlds.

The project has 80 paying customers and has generated approximately RUB 700,000 in sales. The team obtained a state registration certificate for its computer software and secured resident status at the Moscow Innovation Cluster (MIC) and the Moscow Media Technology Cluster.

AIVideoEditor is an automated video editing service.

The project received a RUB 1 million grant from Yandex AI Studio and attracted more than 350 users, including from CIS countries and Southeast Asia.

Formo4ka is a form and survey builder that generates a ready-to-use form from a single prompt.

The team conducted two paid B2B pilot projects under licence agreements, and both clients renewed their subscriptions. During the programme, the company launched B2B sales and introduced two new products: widgets and AI-powered chats.

DataJuice is a gamification platform for brands.

Paid pilot projects with Litres, Sravni.ru and Lukoil generated up to 9% in additional sales. Contracts worth approximately RUB 2.5 million have been signed, with a further RUB 3.5 million currently under negotiation. The team's key achievement during the programme was its transition from one-off special projects to a product-based business model generating recurring revenue.

feedly.tech is a user experience analytics service featuring AI-generated responses to customer reviews for e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retail.

The team signed a paid pilot agreement with a major company, with two more agreements currently awaiting signature.

Deepfake Protection is a service that detects AI-generated content, including text, audio, images and video.

The team obtained a patent for its invention, received a grant for cloud infrastructure and made its first B2C sales, with more than 80 purchases and over 300 paid checks completed.

SitePatrol is a machine-learning-based service that protects websites against bots and Layer 7 DDoS attacks.

During the programme, the project attracted six new clients on a subscription-based payment model. Its main target segments are e-commerce and financial services.

MUST ProDrive is a fintech infrastructure solution for managing the allocation of work among truck drivers.

The team launched pilot projects with distribution centres operated by two major nationwide retail chains and a large transport company. The project raised RUB 9 million from its shareholders and received investment commitments of approximately RUB 7 million. Negotiations are also underway for a funding round worth tens of millions of rubles.

A special project developed in cooperation with MGIMO’s School of Business was also presented: NaydЁshka, a digital service that helps users find lost belongings and return found items through messaging apps.

The event concluded with an awards ceremony and networking session. The teams discussed next steps for their pilot projects and potential deals with investors and corporate representatives.

The MGIMO Ventures Accelerator is implemented by MGIMO Endowment in partnership with Startech.vc as part of the Priority 2030 programme. It reflects MGIMO’s commitment to technological development and the promotion of innovative entrepreneurship.

Follow programme updates on the MGIMO Ventures Telegram channel: t.me/mgimo_ventures