New opportunities for corporations and startups in the realities of COVID-19 post-quarantine discussed on Astana Finance Days

At the working session, experts discussed opportunities for corporations and startups after the pandemic. Speakers were Irina Martynova, head of the corporate direction of the Russian accelerator GenerationS, Jack Peters, head of enterprises scouting for Accelerace accelerator, a leading accelerator in Scandinavia, and Timur Bairov, director of the blockchain company Bitfury in Kazakhstan.

In a pandemic, the technological environment is developing more dynamically, entire markets and business models are changing. It is difficult for corporations, which are mostly strictly regulated, to manage innovation, but it is very important for  their survival. The solution to this problem is in the area of corporate innovation. Experts discussed and gave practical advice on a plan to launch and restore innovative activity within the company. Corporations can introduce new technologies in collaboration with startups. This will help increase profits and reduce costs.

“For any innovation-oriented company, it is important to understand where to start the restoration of innovative activity, how to correctly plan and get the expected results,” – commented Irina Martynova, head of the corporate direction of the accelerator GenerationS.

Jack Peters, head of enterprises scouting for Accelerace accelerator, noted that the startup community is actively developing in Scandinavia and Northern Europe, and corporations, in turn, are gradually developing a clear understanding of how they want to work with startups.

“The topic of corporate innovation development is gaining momentum in the market not only in Kazakhstan, but throughout Central Asia. Within the framework of the Corporate Innovation Department and the entire AIFC Fintech Hub, we are creating an expert attraction point and networking platform for companies, startups and government agencies. This is how we will be able to launch joint pilot projects, corporate programs for developing cooperation between IT companies and startups with real business,” – commented Alim Khamitov, head of Corporate Innovation Department at AIFC Fintech Hub.

During a pandemic, it is crucial for startups to expand their network, confirm demand among the partner and expert communities, interact with the market and show practical cases that the startup has the tools and resources for work.

Reference:

Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) was created by the initiative of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. The constitutional law on the establishment of the AIFC was signed on December 7, 2015. The purpose of AIFC is the formation of a leading centre of financial services on international level. AIFC’s tasks are to assist in attracting investments to the country’s economy by creating an attractive environment for investing in financial services, developing the securities market of the Republic of Kazakhstan, ensuring its integration with international capital markets.  www.aifc.kz

AIFC Fintech Hub is the meeting point for global startups, entrepreneurs, corporations, investors, experts and specialist  in the field of innovation. The development of fintech at the AIFC includes programs for startup support, corporative innovations, the venture capital market, specially developed rules and regulators that allow testing products and solutions in the field of fintech. http://www.fintech.aifc.kz/

GenerationS – a platform for the development of corporate innovation; the largest corporate accelerator in Russia and the CIS. Organized by RVC in 2013. GenerationS implements comprehensive programs for the development of corporations: intra-corporate – for the development of internal entrepreneurship; acceleration – for scouting and acceleration of external projects; international – to train employees the methods of building and conducting innovations based on corporations – international leaders. Today, the accelerator infrastructure includes more than 16 thousand startups from more than 30 countries, about 400 corporate and ecosystem partners. In 2017, GenerationS was awarded the title of Russia’s largest accelerator according to RBC magazine. In 2018, GenerationS became the first Russian accelerator accredited by the Global Accelerator Network (GAN), organized by TechStars, and the best corporate accelerator in Europe according to Corporate Startup Summit.