First Trianon Startups Forum at Yekaterinburg

22 October 2021

October 12^th–13^th, the first regional event of Trianon Startups Forum under the auspices of the French-Russia Trianon Dialogue was held in Yekaterinburg, attended by French green startups and Ural companies.

A rich programme was prepared for the foreign guests. In the morning of October 12^th, the French delegation visited the Hi-Tech Technopark of the Sverdlovsk region. The participants were welcomed by the General Director of the High-Tech Park Alexander Ebergard and the Advisor to the General Director Dmitry Stenin.

The organizer of the meeting and the CEO of Ksetek clean technologies platform Stanislas Henrion presented a report on the experience of Russia and France in greentech. The French entrepreneurs showcased their projects to the Russian residents of the High-Tech Park, who also shared their latest developments in green technologies.

A series of B2B meetings, the main event of the Forum, was held in the Sevastyanov’s House, which is the residence of the Sverdlovsk region governor. For three hours the French entrepreneurs met with the representatives of the Ural companies, including Russian Copper Company, Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company, Ural Plant of Chemical Machine-Building, VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation, and many others.

The participants of the meeting were welcomed by the Minister of International and Foreign Economic Relations of the Sverdlovsk region Vasiliy Kozlov, who expressed his hope that the Forum would become yet another joint project of the Sverdlovsk region and France.

“Yekaterinburg is a very appropriate place for holding the Forum. It is a city with a strong character,” noted the French Consul General in Yekaterinburg Pierre-Allain Coffinier

The Ural Chamber of Commerce and Industry acted as one of the Forum’s partners. According to the Vice-President Svetlana Okulova, lately the Chamber witnessed an increasing number of inquiries regarding environmental due diligence and energy saving solutions, which attests to the relevance of international cooperation in the area.

The event was also attended by the Dean of the School of Financial Economy Evgeny Pogrebnyak, who shared the experience of teaching technical subjects at MGIMO and students’ participation in launching startups: “Many of the technologies are of particular interest to our students”.

Another partner of the Trianon Startups Forum in Yekaterinburg was Rosbank. “It’s crucial for us to support new projects aimed at strengthening international business cooperation and promoting development of the region and the economy of the country in general,” said Irina Tatar, the Director for Corporate Clients of the Ural region.

On October 13^th, the French entrepreneurs visited the UMMC Uralelectromed company, learning about copper recycling. They also had a chance to watch gold melting process and hold the recently made bar of this precious metal.

The Trianon Startups Forum is held on the initiative of the Trianon Dialogue Coordination Committee member and French Tech Moscow President Euryale Chatelard.

On the sidelines of the first Forum held in 2019 at the residence of French kings – the Palace of Versailles (France), 290 meeting of Russian startups and French companies were held. In February 2020, over 320 business meeting were organized in Moscow at the Pushkin Museum.

June 7^th, Trianon Startups Forum became one of the first offline events in France. The event at the Palace of Versailles was attended by 13 big French companies and 26 Russian startups.