Seven start-up projects by St Petersburg University students at AIM Congress 2025
Representatives of St Petersburg University have taken part in the 14th Annual Investment Meeting (AIM Congress) 2025, which was held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) in the United Arab Emirates. More than 20,000 people from 180 countries discussed the future of global business and investment opportunities for some of the most advanced projects.
The Congress is committed to identifying promising areas for investment, strengthening the leading positions of countries as centres of attraction for strategic capital, and expanding the understanding of global investment trends. In his welcoming speech, His Excellency Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade and President of AIM Congress, emphasised the significance of the AIM Congress 2025 in consolidating the efforts of the international community in addressing the pressing economic challenges of our time and formulating sustainable development strategies.
‘In the era of global economic transformation, AIM Congress 2025 provides a crucial platform to connect, innovate and build an ecosystem that fosters sustainable and inclusive growth,’ said His Excellency Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, outlining the forum’s key objective to catalyse large-scale changes to build economy that ensures sustainable and inclusive growth for all.
The delegation of St Petersburg University included seven student start-up teams that received support and expert guidance from experienced mentors. They presented some of the most advanced technological developments, which covered a wide range of areas from IT and novel materials to biotechnological solutions and achievements in the field of medicine. According to Nikolai Parfenenok, Head of the International Accelerator at St Petersburg University and Deputy Dean of the School of International Relations at St Petersburg University, these initiatives evidenced enormous scientific and innovation potential of the University as one of the leading Russia’s centres to advance science and technology.
Participation in the forum was supported by the University’s Endowment Fund. The delegation of St Petersburg University was headed by Nikolai Parfenenok, Head of the International Accelerator at St Petersburg University; Ivan Blekanov, Head of the Department of Programming Technology; Gleb Kim, a leading cardiac surgeon at the Pirogov Clinic of High Medical Technologies at St Petersburg University; and Evgenii Mitrofanov, Associate Professor in the Department of Programming Technology at St Petersburg University. They were mentors and consultants for student teams and held a number of meetings with representatives of investment funds and technology companies.
One of the most promising developments presented at the AIM Congress 2025 was the project ‘Expert Opinion AI’. It is an AI expert system to prepare for complex surgeries, provide assistance to doctors and young specialists working with cardiovascular pathologies. The author of the idea and the head of the research team is Gleb Kim, a cardiac surgeon at the Pirogov Clinic of High Medical Technologies at St Petersburg University.
The prospects for the practical application of the project in healthcare attracted keen interest of the international community. The start-up received worldwide recognition. The team qualified for the world championship in artificial intelligence, said Lev Kovalenko, a member of the research team, a doctoral student at St Petersburg University. During the congress, the University student acted as an honorary speaker at a session devoted to the use of AI in the field of medical care and took part in a round table discussion on the prospects for introducing such technologies into clinical practice.
The conference on artificial intelligence provided a unique opportunity to speak on the same platform with a Nobel Prize laureate. We outlined some prospects for our potential cooperation as part of future research projects.
Lev Kovalenko, a member of the research team, a doctoral student at St Petersburg University
The forum discussed some of the most pressing issues in socio-economic development and searched for practical solutions to improve the standard of living of the population and stimulate trade growth, said Lev Kovalenko. As a result of the negotiations, the team could build contacts with nine countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
Another start-up project presented by Mikhail Pavlovskii, a student at St Petersburg University, is a company specialising in the development of civilian unmanned aerial vehicles. This project attracted the attention of both Russian and international experts interested in developing the leadership potential of early-career researchers and the possibility of a promising business in this area. In 2024, the company received state support in the form of a grant of 50 million roubles, said Mikhail Pavlovskii, a future expert in international relation.
They are already actively using these financial resources. Twenty four million roubles have been allocated for the purpose of the comprehensive technical modernisation of the production base and the attraction of qualified professionals. According to Mikhail Pavlovskii, it is a strong team with deep knowledge in their field and the support of the University that are the key to the successful implementation of the project. ‘The start-up is our commitment to embedding theoretical knowledge in an applied way in the high-tech industry. St Petersburg University played a key role to ensure the possibility of presenting the project at the international level,’ said Mikhail Pavlovskii. ‘The support of the University was vital for our team. We could commercialise the scientific development and introduce the technology into the real sector of the economy.’
The high potential of the project did not go unnoticed by international investors. The team received preliminary investment offers totalling about 2.5 million dollars from representatives of a joint fund for sustainable development of future technologies from Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.
AIM Congress is held annually with the support of the UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology and the Department of Economic Development of Abu Dhabi. The Congress is a leading investment platform in the Middle East to create new opportunities for entrepreneurs around the world. The mission of the Congress is to establish strong connections in the investment world economy aimed at stimulating economic growth, primarily for emerging markets. This year, the key topic of the forum was artificial intelligence as a real driver of industry transformation.
The exhibition centre also showcased other promising developments by students from St Petersburg University. Among them is the field robot agroscout, developed by Evgenii Kruchinin. This is the first automated solution for the comprehensive monitoring of agricultural areas. The robot independently drives around the fields, collects data and analyses the condition of the crops, providing an objective assessment of the harvest. This technology, according to the author of the project, allows optimising agricultural activities and increasing the efficiency of agricultural production.
New technologies are also used in the project that won the highest award at the Student Start-up contest. Egor Shishlov developed an intelligent system for personalised travel planning. Unlike traditional travel agencies, ToDoTrip uses artificial intelligence algorithms to create unique routes adapted to the personal preferences of users and expands the possibilities for organising individual tourism. Another winner of this contest, which was presented at the AIM Congress 2025, is the SportsLoc platform, focused on integrating sports venue employees and outdoor enthusiasts. Vadim Grafkin said that the key advantage of the project is simplifying the search and booking of sports facilities and popularising sports and a healthy lifestyle.
The Student Start-up contest was organised by the Innovation Support Foundation together with the Ministry of Science and Higher Education as part of the federal project ‘University Technological Entrepreneurship Platform’.
Among the research projects on innovative solutions for improving the urban environment, St Petersburg University student Gleb Ilitsinskii introduced the results of work on the Transol product. The project is aimed at creating a recommendation system designed to support the process of making management decisions regarding the topology of the street and road network of large cities. Daniil Anikin’s team proposed solutions to reduce traffic congestion and improve the efficiency of urban logistics by developing an intelligent traffic management system Ppark.
As part of the forum, the University students held presentations for investors and representatives of ministries, assessing current trends in student entrepreneurship and discussing the possibilities of implementing advanced global practices at St Petersburg University. Participation in the AIM Congress 2025 was part of the partnership agreement signed in 2023 between St Petersburg University and AIM Global Academia Partner.