Kirovsky Zavod is one of the largest machine-building enterprises in the country. The company has a venture fund for investments, as well as an accelerator for piloting and implementation of new solutions and technologies. The acceleration program is held for the second year and shows excellent results both for the enterprise and for startups-participants.

In total 287 applications from 10 countries and 67 cities were submitted to the contest, from which the experts of Kirovsky Zavod selected 23 best startups to participate in the final. The operator of the selection of applications was GoTech Innovation.

The final selection took place in the coworking space. On the first day, startups were trained in effective presentations and had a mentorship session with 26 experts of Kirovsky Zavod.

The second day was held in the format of pitch-session — startups presented to the experts of Kirovsky Zavod their solutions and technologies and offered formats of cooperation with the enterprise.

The winners:

According to the results of the pitch-session, 8 best startups were selected to participate in the accelerator:

• Air Cloud — corporate software platform that transforms all employees’ workplaces into thin clients with remote access functionality.
• TOP — a device that will allow farmers to save hundreds of millions annually using computer vision technology and machine learning.
• HUMAN+— development and production of wearable devices which help to increase labor efficiency at production facilities and reduce operating costs.
• Neuroscanner — decoding of flaw detectors in real time mode with predictive diagnostics system, search for solutions and repair suggestions.
• Air&Soil — autonomous drone and robot based on artificial intelligence and computer vision to combat weeds, pests, and diseases of cultivated plants.
• WAS — machine diagnostic system, which reduces the total downtime by 90% (waiting for spare parts and repairs).
• odgAssist — cloud platform for production quality management, ISO, GxP and other standards management.
• VizorLabs Health & Safety — monitoring the compliance of employees with safety requirements.

How well did the startups perform, what are the prospects of the accelerator program, what projects aroused the greatest interest — the experts of Kirovsky Zavod, who evaluated the teams of participants, shared their opinions.

Alexander Lomiko, director of “ESK” JSC:

There is a definite plus in this format. We are always looking for new ideas for the plant, participating in exhibitions, conferences, events, where in a huge whirlpool of new ideas and technologies, looking for useful solutions. Here it is the opposite – startups interested in cooperation with Kirovsky Zavod came to the competition and they talk about their ideas and their practical application and concrete benefits for the enterprise.

Anastasia Nikitina, financial director of Petrostal Metallurgical Plant:

Certainly, the accelerator program should be carried out further. For Kirovsky Zavod it is a wonderful source of new technologies. We can get acquainted with interesting ideas and understand how they can be used in the future and solve with their help many of the most painful problems of the enterprise.

Yuri Ponomarev, manager of production system and quality of Kirovsky Zavod:

Having communicated with the startups-participants I was pleasantly surprised that we have a lot of clever, educated and literate people in our country. It is especially nice to see young guys who invent such wonderful ideas and embody them in life.

Irina Kalashnikova, co-founder and CEO of GoTech Innovation:

It is gratifying to note the variety of startups involved in the final selection. We are very glad that we have selected such diverse startups. The experts were able to familiarize themselves with the excellent innovative ideas and with the companies tuned for integration into the processes of Kirovsky Zavod. I would like to congratulate the startups that won the selection and wish them good luck. And to all the teams that did not pass the acceleration program, I strongly recommend not to stop negotiations on cooperation with Kirovsky Zavod, because all startups-finalists have perspective for the enterprise ideas and products and have already got in the field of its view.

Olga Vasilyeva, director of Corporate University of Kirovsky Zavod:

I think that carrying out the accelerator is the right strategic direction for Kirovsky Zavod. This is a very dynamic format, useful both for the enterprise as a whole and for employees. I believe that specialists of the plant need the experience of participation in the role of experts, the experience of searching for new ideas, communication, evaluation. So, for myself I noted the most interesting projects in their direction — VR-training and VR-testing, this topic is very interesting to me. I liked the way the guys presented themselves, how they justified the ideas and what were their examples.

From June to September the winners will have to pass the accelerator program and pump their startup to the level of the pilot project with the Kirovsky Zavod. The piloting is scheduled for October and November.

We wish the participants of the accelerator program and the specialists of Kirovsky Zavod fruitful joint work and successful pilot projects!