Three projects reach the final of the contest ‘Start up SPbU 2025’

According to the results of the contest, the first place was taken by the SIMON team, which develops software to analyse traffic between devices and signal about detected anomalies in the target segment of the network infrastructure. The programme automatically selects the optimal parameters for each pair of devices and does not require additional knowledge about the hardware or protocol context of the segment. The product can be deployed with equal ease in industrial, corporate and home networks and in networks of smart devices.

The experts awarded second place to the Sonobact team, which developed an innovative proprietary method for optimising the production of Bacillus subtilis. The technology has been developed and tested in the laboratory. The resulting product is a device to yield bacteria increases without involving additional resources and expanding the scale of production. It may be of interest to pharmaceutical and biotechnological enterprises.

The bronze prize went to the VARD team that presented a prototype of the space debris recognition system based on artificial intelligence. The autonomous system is developed to analyse the orbital environment, identify potentially dangerous objects, and automatically adjust the orbits of Russia’s satellites to reduce the risk of collisions.

The teams received grants of 350,000, 250,000, and 150,000 roubles, respectively, to develop their projects in the Accelerator at the Business Incubator at St Petersburg University. The participants will be able to improve their start-ups, A personalised tracking programme will help each team to develop an individual plan for finalising the project, taking into account feedback from the expert jury. It will also prepare them to engage with investment funds and customer companies. In October, aspiring entrepreneurs will present their start-ups to potential customers and business partners in the final of the contest ‘Start up SPbU 2025’.

The participants in the ceremony were addressed by Anastasia Yarmosh, Senior Vice-Rector for Strategic Development and Partnership at St Petersburg University, a member of the expert council of ‘Start up SPbU 2025’. ‘The contest of St Petersburg University, established ten years ago, has become the first university start-up contest in Russia. Even then, the prizes and awards were significantly different from those that other universities subsequently began to offer to the winners, and a wide professional community was involved in the examination and evaluation of projects. For many years, our contest has been open not only to young people from St Petersburg University, but also to participants from all regions of the country. We have not moved backward and, together with our partners, i.e. the St Petersburg University Endowment Fund and experts (some of them have been members of the jury for many years), we are continuing to support the development of student technological entrepreneurship,’ said Anastasia Yarmosh.

Two years ago, Start up SPbU expanded its geography by inviting students and researchers from all universities and research institutions in the country to participate, which cemented the success of the contest, said Elena Mishutina, Executive Director of the St Petersburg University Endowment Fund and Chair of the Organising Committee of the contest ‘Start-up SPbU’. This year, 116 applications were submitted to the contest. They cover a wide range of fields: digital technology, artificial intelligence, medicine, biotechnology, ecology, development of platform and corporate software for business, and other areas that are much in demand by various sectors of the economy.

The contest ‘Start-up SPbU’ is set to create conditions for the development of entrepreneurial activity among students. It also serves as an entry point into the world of business and entrepreneurship. We are very proud that the Endowment Fund, together with St Petersburg University, provides all the conditions, resources and professional assessment for the development of start-up projects. Today, you are not just participating in the semi-finals, but are becoming part of a large community of technological entrepreneurship in the Russian Federation.

Elena Mishutina, Executive Director of the St Petersburg University Endowment Fund and Chair of the Organising Committee of the contest ‘Start-up SPbU’

Among the honoured guests was Tatiana Rondaleva, Director of the Special Economic Zone ‘St Petersburg’. ‘It is a great honour for us to assess the start-ups of the participants in the St Petersburg University contest for the first time. I represent the Special Economic Zone to implement innovative business projects on the high-tech product development. The contest is the place where ideas are born, which, I hope, will be further developed on our platform in future,’ said Tatiana Rondaleva. ‘I am glad that you have invited me to join your unique community. I hope that our support will influence the development of your interesting start-ups.’

At the semi-final, St Petersburg University and ’The Development of St Petersburg University’ Endowment Fund signed a cooperation agreement as part of the implementation of the international accelerator at St Petersburg University. The document was signed by Sergey Andryushin, Vice-Rector for International Affairs at St Petersburg University, and Elena Mishutina, Executive Director of the Endowment Fund.

Among those who shared their experience with the participants were the following: Aleksandr Averianov, Head of the Terroir Concept team, the winner of the 2021 contest, the author of the Flying Hummingbird start-up, which develops unmanned aerial vehicles for civilian use; Mikhail Pavlovskii, a student at St Petersburg University; and Arman Luarsabian, a co-founder of the Orient Express project, a student at St Petersburg University.

The expert council included Anastasia Yarmosh, Senior Vice-Rector for Strategic Development and Partnership at St Petersburg University; Professor Sergey Aplonov, Director of the Arctic Research Centre at St Petersburg University; Elena Mishutina, Executive Director of the ’The Development of St Petersburg University’ Endowment Fund; Nikolai Parfenenok, Deputy Dean for Youth Policy at the School of International Relations at St Petersburg University; and Aleksandr Sergeev, Director of the Business Incubator at St Petersburg University. The projects were also assessed by Igor Redega, Director of the Autonomous Non-Commercial Organisation for International Interuniversity Cooperation ‘Ritsa’; Artem Tyncherov, Head of the Department for Work with Government Agencies and Public Organisations, Senior Vice President of VTB Bank; and Artem Fetisov, the founder and Head of the IT company ‘Digital Solutions’.

During three months, the contestants revised their start-ups and studied a non-degree programme ‘Start-up Development Management’, developed especially for the contestants.

AI PotentialPro team reached the semi-final to defend their project to develop a system for assessing the market value of young athletes using artificial intelligence. The students are developing a mathematical model based on big data, which, based on a number of indicators, e.g. athletes’ progress in training, performance in competitions and other indicators, analyses data on their physical performance and translates it into a value category. The model will also predict which characteristics athletes need to improve to increase their value.

Another semi-finalist is the Antimicro team, which develops a universal technological solution that allows validation of the results of whole genome sequencing (WGS), i.e. is a tool for analysing the genetic material of a community of microorganisms. This tool is expected to ensure accurate and rapid diagnostics, allowing for rapid characterisation of the diversity of pathogenic microorganisms in a clinical sample and the development of the necessary treatment strategy.

The experts were also presented with the intelligent assistant ‘Mentor AI’ for the responsible use of artificial intelligence in education. Unlike existing AI solutions, this product does not perform tasks for students, but helps them learn independently through a system of leading questions, hints, and interactive explanations. The system adapts to the user’s level, helps structure thinking, and develops metacognitive skills necessary for successful learning, ensuring a balance between the use of AI technologies and the development of student’s own skills.

The semi-final also offered opportunities for networking with business consultants, mentors and tutors.