INRTU acceleration program «Taiga» is one of the best in Russia

INRTU acceleration program «Taiga» is among the winners of the federal student entrepreneurship programs contest. The program took the ninth place

According to the website of the Government of the Irkutsk region, for program’s implementation more than 7 million rubles will be allocated from the federal budget by the end of this year, including selection and packaging of projects. The contest was held within the federal project «University Technology Entrepreneurship Platform» with the support of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Russian Federation.

The program was developed by the Strategic and Innovative Development Fund of the Irkutsk region (the Baikal Scientific Educational Center (REC), specialists of INRTU and «BAIKAL.CENTER» (a regional operator of the «Skolkovo Foundation» in the Irkutsk region).

«This is not the first project implemented by consolidated efforts. The program should have practice-oriented nature, it is very important. The project should be beneficial not only for the student community, but for the Irkutsk region as well. That is why one of the organizers of the program is Strategic and Innovative Development Fund. Working-outs of the acceleration program «Taiga» will be offered to business partners for implementation», - said Natalia Gershun, Minister of Economic Development and Industry of the Irkutsk region.

«The main goal of the acceleration program is to support project teams and student initiatives, as well as to improve the idea of student teams and their competence. The program runs for three months and contains lectures, workshops, networking and meetings with experts. 32 events are scheduled before the end of the year. The methodology of work with projects is based on modern growth tools («Customer Development», «Lean Startup», «Data Driven» and others),» - explained the director of the Strategic and Innovative Development Fund of the Irkutsk region and Rector's Councillor for Government Relations and Industrial Partners of INRTU Evgeny Semenov.

«BAIKAL.CENTER» Development Director Teymur Magomedov noted that the partners of the acceleration program are representatives of innovation infrastructure of the Irkutsk region:

«We have formed a unique team of federal, regional experts and trackers who have competences in development of environmental projects. This year the «BAIKAL.CENTER» has formed a space for various events on the territory of the former Baikal pulp and paper mill. We want student startups to get opportunities for development within the ecological campus «ECO.Workshop».