Sberbank : Sber holds session on the venture economy at SPIEF’21

Sber has held a session on The Venture Economy in Developing Countries, dedicated to the accelerated digitalization of traditionally offline areas of the economy in the context of COVID-19, at the 24^th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). Lev Khasis, First Deputy Chairman of the Sberbank Executive Board, moderated the discussion.

Andrey Belousov, First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, also took part in the discussion. Speaking at the session were Faris Sohail Faris Al Mazrui, Head of Mubadala's Russia and CIS Investment Program; Kirill Androsov, Executive Director at Atlas Asset Management Pte. Ltd; Leonid Boguslavsky, General Partner at RTP Global; Anatoly Braverman, First Deputy Chief Executive Officer at the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF); and Victor Orlovsky, Managing Partner and Founder of FortRoss Ventures.

As noted by the discussion participants, COVID-19 has become one of the drivers of the acceleration of the digital economy, both for well-established industries (e.g., e-commerce) and for areas of business where the digital revolution is expected to take place in the near future (medicine, agribusiness, energy). On the whole, there is a surplus of money on global capital markets, and, as a result, new business ideas are being launched and established startups are going public with an IPO.

The experts discussed the likelihood of other countries squeezing out the leaders (the USA and China) in terms of unicorns and which countries were capable of doing so; which industries were more likely to see the appearance of new unicorns; at what moment should a startup start thinking about entering international markets; where to seek funds at various stages; and what should businesses expect from the state when it comes to developing venture entrepreneurship.

Also at the center of attention was the question of large companies purchasing startups and whether that is good or bad with regard to business culture and competition. The discussion of these issues drew on examples from the markets of Russia, the USA, China, Singapore, the UAE, India, and other countries.

In conclusion, Andrey Belousov explained what actions are being planned by the government to develop tech entrepreneurship and which projects are set to be implemented in coming years.

Well-known people in the venture industry world took part in our discussion. Together we examined the situation in the venture economies of various countries, including, of course, Russia. It was important for us to understand what this industry looks like right now in leading countries, which industries are the most promising, what prospects our startups have on international markets, and what actions are being planned by the government, to facilitate the appearance in Russia of as many unicorn companies with global potential as possible. We concluded that development institutions already exist in Russia that cover the majority of startups' investment needs at all stages of growth, however, for increased effectiveness, they need to interact more coherently. We also need to work on developing competition in the economy in general. I would like to thank First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov for his in-depth and detailed statement, which to a great extent shed light on the government's position on this issue.

Lev Khasis

First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board, Sberbank