Prize fund - 100,000 rubles, applications are accepted until June 30

The Smart Startup competition for innovative projects was organized to identify and support promising innovative projects in the Rostov region.
Innovators have an excellent opportunity to present their project to qualified specialists, to receive feedback from experts on their project and, of course, funding for the further development of the project.

The expert jury of the competition will include professional mentors in the field of entrepreneurship, potential investors, business owners, as well as representatives of support institutions and financial structures who are ready to support interesting solutions.
The competition is held by the Innovation Agency of the Rostov Region with the support of the Analytical Center "Expert South"

Applications are accepted in four nominations, each of which fixes a certain stage of project development:

• " Business idea : problem and solution". The nomination assesses the understanding of the problem and the options for its solution, including the search for innovative technological solutions.

• "Product with minimal functionality." The nomination assesses the extent to which a product with minimum functionality (MVP) allows solving a problem, understanding the competitive advantages of the product.

• "Product goes to market." The nomination assesses the understanding of one's market, target audiences, strategies and tactics of behavior on it.

• "Scaling". The nomination evaluates a business scaling project that already has its first sales.

You can read detailed information about the competition and leave an application for participation on the project website: http://startup.expertsouth.ru/ . The competition is open to both operating enterprises and individuals residing in the Rostov region.

The competition consists of several stages. The collection of applications takes place until June 30, then educational seminars for all participants in the selected areas will be held. The public defense of the projects selected by the expert jury will take place in the fall. The awards ceremony for the winners will take place in October 2021.

All contestants will have the opportunity to:

• present the project to the experienced expert community of the region;
• take training seminars and get useful advice on finalizing the project;
• attract the attention of investors and support institutions to your project;
• receive a cash prize (prize fund - 100,000 rubles).

Anna Pushhenko, General Director of ANO Agency for Innovations of the Rostov Region, emphasizes the social orientation of the competition:

“The competition will help the authors of innovative projects of applied value in the social sphere, sports, urban environment and ecology to test new ideas in the competition and get feedback from experts and informational support. In my opinion, this is the greatest value. At the same time, it is important that the project is technological and complex enough.

“A person with an innovative business idea in the Rostov Region should have a place to go,” says Vladimir Kozlov, General Director of the Analytical Center “Expert Yug”. - We offered nominations for projects that are at different stages of development. We hope that the value of the competition will be not only a victory, but also the possibility of timely examination of the project, assistance in its elaboration. It is important that new promising ideas fall into the field of vision of regional support institutions as soon as possible and can use their opportunities. "

Competition partners: Rostov State Economic University (RINH), RNDSOFT company specializing in research and development of its own line of software products and cloud services for the financial and investment market. Media partners: RO Today, Delovoy Novocherkassk, Delovoy Yug, Antenna, City Reporter, 1Rnd.ru

Contact person for general issues:
Sergey Tolstov, 8 (961) 423 67 42, tolstov@expertsouth.ru