More and more universities are joining the "Startup as a Diploma" program.

      05 November 2025 17:31 Economy More and more universities are joining the "Startup as a Thesis" program.

      The program operates under the national project "Effective and Competitive Economy." Its development is a strategically important step in training a new generation of specialists. Unlike the traditional diploma thesis, which is often theoretical in nature, creating a startup requires students to apply their knowledge comprehensively in practice: deep immersion in the subject area, development of a viable product, and skills in marketing, financial modeling and team building. The importance of startups lies in their role as engines of innovation and economic growth. By giving rise to fundamentally new technologies and business models, startups create jobs, strengthen the country's competitiveness on the global stage and offer solutions to pressing social and market problems. Thus, by supporting this initiative, universities are not merely issuing diplomas but are effectively cultivating a talent pool for technological sovereignty and the economy of the future.

      The development of startups is supported by the corporate innovation development platform GenerationS. Its initiatives align with the goals and objectives of the national project "Effective and Competitive Economy."

      On October 31, the GenerationS platform team held an Invest Day focused on "Artificial Intelligence." Eight promising startups presented their solutions to investors, experts and representatives of major corporations — from video-content analysis for creating timely advertising campaigns to AI solutions in information security.

      Invest Day became a platform for dialogue where corporations could outline their strategic challenges and technology companies could offer ready-made solutions to address them. More than 100 representatives of leading venture funds and corporations took part in the event to find projects for potential investment and piloting.

      GenerationS Director of Innovation and Technology Development Ekaterina Petrova: "One of our key tasks is to create an effective ecosystem and infrastructure for selecting and implementing breakthrough solutions, where corporations gain access to verified technologies, funds — to promising projects, and startups — to real markets and investors. Today our partners note GenerationS's role as a strategic integrator that not only identifies and shapes technological trends but also provides a full cycle of support to all participants — from expert evaluation to piloting and subsequent scaling of successful projects. It is precisely this comprehensive approach that makes it possible to create sustainable links among all participants in the innovation process and to form new points of growth for the Russian technological ecosystem."

      Three industry experts also spoke at the event, highlighting key trends and growth areas for the artificial intelligence market in Russia.

      Participants showed particular interest in computer vision solutions for retail, platforms for automating marketing strategy, development of personalized supplement plans and intelligent cybersecurity systems. As a result of the event, several participants have already attracted interest from corporations and venture funds. Successful cases will form the basis for further development of the Russian technological ecosystem and the strengthening of domestic companies' competitive positions on the global stage.

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