Sergei Sobyanin has approved plans for the development of Moscow’s innovation system until 2030

At the meeting of the Presidium of the Moscow City Government the report of Natalia Sergunina, Deputy Mayor of Moscow, on the development of the Moscow Innovation Cluster (MIC) was considered. Following the results of the discussion, Sergei Sobyanin approved strategic plans for the development of the city’s innovation system until 2030. They include:

— increasing the share of the technological sector (industry, IT, science) in the city economy;

— boosting the revenue of high-tech companies and venture capital investments in the technology sector;

— increasing the proportion of the gross regional product invested in research and development (R&D) and the number of patents taken out by Moscow businesses and scientific organizations.

The Moscow Innovation Cluster, a development institute established in 2018 on the initiative of Sergei Sobyanin and in accordance with a decree of the President of Russia, will become a key tool for stimulating the technological growth of the economy in the coming years.

Over a period of more than six years, the MIC has established a large-scale system of cooperation between science and business in connection with the development and commercialization of new technologies. The i.moscow digital platform is a unified site serving the capital’s innovation ecosystem. Here, innovators and technology companies can, with a few clicks, access more than 50 digital services and services in in a variety of areas such as:

— Support for scientific developments—attracting investment in R&D, intellectual property management programs and measures to stimulate patent activity;

— Development of cooperation—building interaction networks between companies to create innovative products;

— Demand generation/ support for implementation of innovations—pilot testing of developments in a physical environment, selection of innovative solutions to meet the demand of city customers and large businesses;

— Raising finance—support in structuring projects to attract investment, grants for patenting, pilot testing of innovations, purchase of equipment and development of activities.

The support tools of the MIC were widely used by entities involved in innovation in Moscow, and from May 1, 2020 its services were made available to companies from other regions of Russia. Today more than 40,000 companies and individual entrepreneurs are participants and partners of the MIC. The number of unique visitors to the i.moscow platform exceeds 10 million, and during the entire period of its operation users have received more than 130,000 services.

Since the creation of the MIC, its participants have been able to attract almost 49.1 billion rubles of private investment and loan funding for their projects. In addition, since 2019, more than 9,800 companies and individual entrepreneurs have received over 20.5 billion rubles in grants and subsidies through the i.moscow platform.

Within the MIC ecosystem:

— 16 industry clusters have been formed, and the participating companies are implementing over 200 cooperation projects;

— over 920 production facilities and laboratories have been fitted out with modern equipment;

— More than 277 innovation-testing sites are operating, and more than 625 development tests have been conducted;

— 37 percent of the total number of patents in Moscow are registered through the platform;

— every second transaction on the Moscow venture capital market is conducted.

An important area of the MIC’s work is to support scientific developments and stimulate patent activity. In 2024, a special marketplace Technomarket was created on the i.moscow platform. It unites the Research and Development Exchange, Prototyping Exchange, Production Exchange and Testing Exchange. All tasks performed via the digital platform can be accomplished in a few clicks. In the 10 months that the service has been in operation, state organizations and large companies have submitted more than a thousand technological requests and more than 1,700 accredited performers are now ready to execute orders, including more than 50 leading universities and research centers.

A key role in the development of high-tech business is played by intellectual property, which is often a company’s main asset. Since 2022, special programs to encourage innovators to take out more patents, including grants for patenting inventions and utility models in Russia and abroad, have been implemented.

Today, 37 percent of patents in the capital are registered thanks to the services of the MIC. The MIC has developed a comprehensive approach to intellectual property management that includes educational programs and an intellectual property registration service on i.moscow, in addition to the provision of grants. In addition, Russia’s first preferential lending program secured by intellectual property assets has been created.

Industry clusters

In order to build cooperation, MIC participants have formed 16 industry clusters that unite organizations for the creation, commercialization and replication of innovative projects.

Participation in the cluster helps companies find partners and form new production chains, reduce logistics costs, develop, manufacture and promote products, and shorten the time required to create other products and services.

For this purpose, the MIC provides services such as providing information on available technological solutions, selection of innovative products to meet customers’ needs, and helping customers implement these products.

Today, over 1,400 companies are working in the MIC industry clusters, implementing over 200 joint projects.

Examples of innovative projects

Robotics:

— robotic systems for the maintenance of digitally controlled machine tools (implemented at the auto component plant of GAZ PJSC, Krasny Borets machine tool plant, Elmash plant);

— robotic complex for mounting printed circuit boards in the electronics industry (put into operation at Butis LLC in the Moscow Technopolis special economic zone);

— a robot manipulator for the collection and sorting of solid municipal waste (prototype tested by Mercator Holding LLC).

Construction:

— UnitBIM, a platform for digital construction with artificial intelligence tools (it is being piloted at the facilities of the Civil Construction Department Moscow City State Enterprise);

— Teplopanel, a range of water-based ceiling heating systems (being implemented at facilities under construction in the Vostochnaya Production Zone, Zelenograd);

— PropTech, a software and hardware system for digitalization of the concrete casting process (used by Mospromstroy and Etalon-Invest in the construction of facilities in Moscow).

Ecology:

— Astra hydrogen power unit (a test sample has been produced and acceptance tests are being conducted at the production site of Inenergy LLC);

— Zanovo, equipment for processing plastic into finished products (B2B sales have been organized in Moscow and other regions of Russia).

Biopharmaceuticals and Medical Technology:

— Silkins, a preparation for repairing damaged skin (used in the Rhana network of clinics);

— iDropper System, a device that controls the rate and volume of intravenous infusions (used in the Medsi chain of clinics);

— Oxygen Technologies, an artificial intelligence-based solution for analyzing all types of X-ray images and diagnosing and detecting pathologies (used in the Bud Zdorov chain of clinics).

Pilot testing of innovations

The Innovation Pilot Testing Program allows high-tech companies to test solutions in real-life urban environments. City and commercial customers get the opportunity to test new technologies, evaluate the cost-effectiveness of their use and decide on further implementation.

The city has 277 sites for testing innovations in areas such as health and medicine, education and sports, culture and parks, construction and housing, transportation and logistics, manufacturing and IT, and infrastructure, among others. Over 625 pilot tests have been conducted over the course of the program. The total amount of city grants approved for technology companies exceeds 600 million rubles. Based on the results of the pilot testing, innovative products worth 4.4 billion rubles have already been purchased.

Attracting investment

The Moscow Venture Fund is a key institution for supporting technology investments. Since 2012, it has assisted 125 projects, enabling companies to attract five billion rubles in investment. The fund’s own investments total 1.4 billion rubles, and the rest was provided as by private investors, as co-financers.

The Fund has accredited more than 100 co-investor companies and business angels. In February 2024, the Moscow City Government increased its capitalization by two billion rubles.

The Fund currently implements three main support programs:

— a program for start-up companies in the pre-seed and seed stages;

— a program for companies in the early growth and expansion stage (direct investment program);

— a program for mature companies: loans to prepare for an IPO.

In addition to loans, the Moscow City Government actively supports startups in packaging projects to attract investment which includes educational programs to develop the necessary materials, advising on financial models, and objective assessment of project strengths and weaknesses.

Starting from September 2023, the Moscow Innovation Cluster is implementing a financial support program for business angels investing in companies in the capital’s technology sector. It is aimed at co-financing the costs of individuals who have made venture capital investments in startups and high-tech companies participating in the MIC. The amount of support available for one business angel has increased to 10 million rubles per year.

Over the course of the program, 100 unique private investors have submitted over 250 applications, which were granted over 150 million rubles.

In addition, companies implementing projects in science, IT and industry can receive grants for the purchase of equipment and the development of activities. The City will reimburse up to 50 percent of the costs incurred. The maximum amount of support is 30 million rubles. Thanks to this program, over 920 unique production facilities and laboratories have been equipped since 2022, and over 16.5 billion rubles of private investment has been attracted. The amount of financial support provided by the city totaled 7.2 billion rubles.

Lomonosov cluster

The MIC’s core infrastructure project is the Lomonosov cluster, established in Sparrow Hills, MSU’s innovative scientific and technological center. Today it hosts 76 companies implementing projects in the fields of biomedicine, nanotechnology, robotics, energy saving technologies, space research, artificial intelligence, IT and ecology. Their combined revenue in 2024 amounted to 15 billion rubles.

For example, among the projects being worked on in the cluster are a fifth-generation electron beam CT scanner, a device for providing donor plasma and blood components, and equipment for monitoring and processing oil wells during drilling.

The Lomonosov cluster was built in a record two years and opened by the Moscow City Government. Recently, Sergei Sobyanin announced the creation of two more clusters on the territory of the Innovation Science and Technology Center.