Venture committee Skolkovo has summarized results of investing in 2013

The venture Committee of the «Skolkovo” Fund has conducted the end-of-the-year meeting. The senior vice-president on innovations of the «Skolkovo” Fund Vasily Belov, who has spoken at the opening of the Committee meeting, has underlined that one of the main aims of the meeting became discussion and development, jointly with the Government, measures for stimulating development of seed investing in Russia.

Preliminary investment results of the year 2013 are positive and show positive dynamics.

According to results of the year 2013 the «Skolkovo” Fund shows positive dynamics of investment, significant exceed of received by residents volumes of investment funds as compared to analogues period of the last year. Herewith co-investments exceeded volumes of grant financing; a share of foreign investments in capitals of «Skolkovo” residents comprised 73%. In absolute figures we speak about 7B RUB, attracted by residents of the Fund as investing recourses.

Investment director of the «Skolkovo” Fund Eduard Kanalosh has concretized investment of certified investors, the most active of whose, more than 20 people, have visited the meeting. Eduard Kanalosh particularly said that certified venture investors invested, according to official letters, which have been received in Skolkovo from venture funds, more than 1,12B RUB (amount of solid irrevocable duties). Herewith the volume of soft commitment exceeded 24B RUB. Thus, volume of hard commitments exceeded planned for 120M RUB. According to amount of deals of certified investors it has also been fixed the plan excess: 16 deals have already been conducted this year in planned 12.

After the opening speech by Eduard Kanalosh, Chiefs and top-managers of the Fund cluster have spoken against venture investors. They have informed participants of the meeting about results of the current year and told about nowadays living of the cluster and plans for the near future.

The problem of investments at the early development stage of startup-projects tells about the need in stimulating measures development.

Having got acquainted with positive results of the current investment year, certified venture investors have decided to discuss problems, which are the most important at the moment. As a result the speech has been focused on the main subject of the day. There have been announced the unanimous opinion than started the age of firm measures for stimulating the initiative of business-angels and other investors, working at the seed stage. According to Eduard Kanalosh, this is the most serious problem nowadays. Its core is in the simple fact: the majority of investors want to deal with teams, which are already on the market. Disproportion became too high and evident, and need in stimulating mechanisms development of seed investment became the most important problem for investment society.

Aleksander Galitsky, managing partner of the «Almaz Capital Partners” considers that one of the reasons of the current situation is not enough elaborated legislation, which regulates particularly questions of startups bankruptcy. According to his data, among 100 startup-projects only five became successful projects as a result, and this makes the «demotivate” effect those private investors, who decided to become professional business-angel.

But this is just a small part of the question. Venture investors particularly, consider that barriers are also «weak” market of M&A, and this is connected with famous problem of insufficient opportunities for leaving the project. Besides, it stands the problem of need in the referees court institute development, which would specialize at work of startup-projects segment. It has been announced an offer of opening it on the territory of Skolkovo.


Opinion of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade

Participation in the work of the Committee took part Sergey Leschenko, deputy director of the Department of innovation development of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation. He has underlined that nowadays the Ministry is focused on the seed stage, and those system breakdown, which appear in this question, are possible and required to be solved jointly, together with development institutes and investment society. In the interview to Sk.ru he noted that today dialogue is continuation of a discussion of the development ways of seed investment, which already continues during one and a half year. «It seems to me to be a positive fact, — said Sergey Leschenko, — that here in Skolkovo have existed foreign investors, and this to my opinion tells about the fact that they are interested in development of this market and are ready to work with us in this direction”. He noted importance of initiatives, which have been discussed in Skolkovo, making emphasis that the Fund now is in its most changes, aim of which is to make a new technological level, created all over the world”.


Initiatives and offers

Answering the questions of investors, Eduard Kanalosh noted that the «Skolkovo” Fund actively works also in direction of collaboration of questions of creating specialized corporate Funds in the large corporations, including Governmental. Aimed at the work with startups, they can contribute in a perspective to solving the above stated Russian problem with venture and angel investors. On the meeting together with a regulator has been considered and discussed a range of important offers from the members of the Committee on stimulating (taking into consideration the best international practices) initiatives of business-angels through tax stimulating. It is important that joint, open and professional discussion with the Government continues, and probably in the near future will lead to a range of concrete practice measures for stimulating investments from business-angels at a seed stage.

The Skolkovo business-angels Club (SBAC) can become a unique development tool of a business-angel motion.

Spoken people have also noted that timeliness and importance of such tool appearance as SBAC, which should earn not only as a mechanism for meetings, but also as a mechanism for deals formation. Established in summer this year, SBAC will contribute to converting enthusiasts in professional business-angels. The Head of the SBAC Yevgeny Taubkin has also spoken at the meeting. He particularly announced one more initiative of the club – on establishment the «Academy”, where mentors could share their knowledge with starting investors, and called venture guru to join this initiative. SBAC plans the next year to widen the membership in the club up to 200 business-angels, who will be showed 150 startups (this year in SBAC have taken part 120 business-angels, who have been shown 60 teams). And active participation of venture investors, including, mentor, can help «doubting” members of the SBAC, who just think to become a business-angel. Besides, that factor that business-angels will closer communicate with «ventures”, and moreover if they will know that venture fund can enter the next stage in the project, of course, will give additional assurance. Resuming, it is possible to say that the question is about the further collaboration of a complex development of stimulating mechanisms for investments in technological startups at the very early stage of its development. His discussion, possible, became of of the main results of the meeting of the Venture «Skolkovo” Fund Committee.