Sberbank Rossii : and IIDF accelerator conclude strategic cooperation agreement

24 May 2018, Saint Petersburg - Sberbank has concluded a strategic cooperation agreement with the accelerator of the Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF). The document was signed by First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank Lev Khasis and Director of the IIDF Kirill Varlamov at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

The parties agreed to cooperate in creating and supporting promising Russian companies and IT projects within the framework of SberCloud cloud-based platform (marketplace), as well as in the development and distribution of solutions and services using SberCloud which provide comprehensive automatisation of business processes.

According to the agreement, the companies will exchange information about the Russian IT market, attract partners to develop solutions on the using SberCloud, test out new solutions, jointly cover the results of cooperation, create a competence centre to educate and support partners, and jointly promote SberCloud, including the marketplace of solutions and services, at professional events and among Russian organisations.

'In the SberCloud marketplace you will be able to find Sberbank's products, as well as offers of our leading global partners,' said Mr Khasis. 'It will allow start-ups to dramatically reduce expenses on IT equipment and help them focus on the creation of products for clients.'

'The new format of cooperation between the IIDF and Sberbank is a unique window of opportunity for specialised start-ups of the Foundation. The companies will receive high-class expertise, technological support and the possibility to integrate their solutions using the infrastructure of Russia's largest Russian. It is a gateway to fast development for growing businesses. It also has great strategic importance to us,' said Mr Varlamov.

SberCloud is a cloud-based platform, developed and supported by SBCloud, a joint enterprise of Sberbank and system integrator I-Teco. Sberbank's marketplace of cloud solutions is being created on the basis of SberCloud which will mean that companies will not have to purchase their own servers and instead will be able to flexibly use the necessary capacities.

The Internet Initiatives Development Fund is a Russian venture capital fund. The fund's portfolio includes more than 400 companies. According to statistics published by VentureSource (a Dow Jones product), the IIDF is one of Europe's five most active venture funds by number of deals The IIDF invests from 2.5 to 324 mln roubles in early-stage tech companies and provides start-ups with support in the areas of training and consultancy. The IIDF also participates in formulating methods for regulating online business and the venture capital sector. The mission of the IIDF is to make the Russian market transparent and comprehensible to all entrepreneurs who want to start or extend their business on the internet.