The program was packed: technologies, business, investments, and mental health were discussed. Speakers included: Andrey Sebrant (Yandex), Maxim Spiridonov (Reforma), Vlad Rasskazov (CyberStage), Evgeny Borisov (Kama Flow), Maxim Onishchenko (StartupDrive), Artem Badriev (Nova VC), Elizaveta Derbina (The Edgers), and others.
Special attention was paid to the Family Tech theme: myths of dating platforms, technologies for family happiness, and health in relationships were discussed. Representatives from VK Znacomstva, Twinby, SberZdorovye, and others spoke at the sessions.
«If I compare the feeling from the conference to a wine tasting, it left a pleasant aftertaste. Completely different topics are skillfully intertwined by the program director into a coherent series of industry sessions, where each visitor can find something for themselves. Interesting pitches, disputes, fascinating discussions – that's the impression this event left», – Mohamed Ali Vouada, Medical Director of SberZdorovye.
The conference program also addressed important HR topics: the session from The Edgers discussed how to attract a top CTO to a startup for a million dollars. Participants also talked about the prospects of an IPO with leading market players, and together with Reminder, they traditionally touched upon the topic of the psychological health of founders.
On the first day of eXit, the startup competition traditionally took place. More than 100 technology companies applied to participate in the competition, and only the 37 best of them presented their projects in the final pitch session. Partners awarded the winners with valuable prizes.
· The VTB Accelerator noted promising startups Tomoru.team, Office Vision
· A grant to participate in the spring program for entrepreneurs from Startup Leadership Program went to Tomoru.team
· A fast track to the semi-finals of the Startech.Awards prize went to Presentsimple.ai
· A grant for training at the Skolkovo Management School in the Startup Academy program went to Mymeet.ai.
· Project packaging services from AldanDev, a venture builder from the investment company Kama Flow, were awarded to Xenia
«If we talk about the venture market, we see today a shortage of not only capital but also projects. Therefore, we use every opportunity to find promising startups and support competitions where they are accumulated. We chose a voice assistant project for automating interviews, as we consider the HR Tech sphere promising, especially in what is related to artificial intelligence. The project received packaging services from our venture builder AldanDev. I am sure that this will be a good step for its development and scaling», – notes Evgeny Borisov, partner of the investment company KAMA FLOW.
The main prize of the conference – an investment of 20,000,000 rubles from Malina VC – went to YourTunes.
«Creativity is in each of us. It's as if people have a mental limitation, which is that creative expression is the prerogative of the chosen few. In order to be expressed – you need to have something exclusive and seem to have a special right! YourTunes gives people freedom in their expression. Therefore, we see a potential huge demand in the B2C segment, which is flexibly scalable», – shares Anton Pronin, managing partner of the fund, founder of the venture fund Malina VC.
A new feature of the event was a separate program on the second day of the conference for scale-ups. The team organized industry pitch sessions for growing technology companies with a turnover of 50 million rubles per year, who spoke before major investors interested in buying companies in Russia. Among the investors were representatives of T-Bank, Kontur, Friendly VC, MTS, private investors, and others.
As part of the second day of the conference under the VTB Bank brand, the session «Corporations and Startups: Do We Need Each Other?» took place. The discussion was attended by: Natalia Degtyareva (VTB Accelerator), Sergey Derevtsov (MTS), Vitaly Shchipkov (MobileScoring), Sergey Korenkov (Sensemachine), Kirill Buryakov (Doczilla), and Vladimir Egorov (Rostelecom).
Representatives of corporations and startups discussed current expectations and preferences in a complex market situation. Participants talked about whether startups are now ready to sell, attract investment, or whether they are more interested in selling and implementing their products in collaboration with large companies, implementing joint projects.
As a result of collaboration with the Meet For Charity charity auction, eXit speakers – Natalia Mendus (RSHB), Anton Utekhin (Rounds), Maria Sutormina (Syndicate) – met with the winners of the auction, and the proceeds were sent to charity.
The conference venue featured the traditional area – the Startup Leadership Program lounge, a pop-up lounge with carpets, neon, and palm trees, where partners convey the values of their community to conference guests through various activities. Also, in the startup alley, you could get acquainted with innovative products; more than 50 companies participated in the event with a stand.
The conference ended with a vibrant after-party, which once again proved: eXit is not just an event, but a space without jackets and ties, where people meet, communicate, and find real opportunities for deals and partnerships.
Technology partners: VTB Bank, VTB Accelerator, Startup Leadership Program, Kama Flow, Startech.vc, Malina VC, Skolkovo Management School.
Investment partners: venture club «Syndicate», Rounds.
Special partners: Reminder, The Edgers (ex. Odgers Berndtson Russia), Investment Leaders Forum & Award.
Photos courtesy of the eXit conference press service