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On September 30, the winners of the Technology Award established by the Moscow Government and Sber were announced during the second Moscow Startup Summit. The award brings together key players in the innovation ecosystem and recognises best practices in technological development — from creating and implementing new solutions to supporting startups, investing in innovation and developing innovation infrastructure, as well as media projects and journalists covering technology entrepreneurship and the adoption of innovative solutions in Russia.
This year, the award received 2,021 applications from 76 regions across Russia, 15% more than the previous year. Participants submitted projects in 17 nominations across five categories: technology startups, venture investors, corporations, regional development institutions and universities, and media.
According to the organisers, this year’s competition received a record number of applications. Ten of the Technology Award winners are from Moscow. Three awards went to technology startups, while another seven were presented to winners in the Venture Investors, Corporations and Media categories. They are developing solutions across a wide range of fields, from artificial intelligence and robotics to financial and industrial technologies. Importantly, many of these developments are already designed for practical application. Moscow-based participants, for example, include projects in education, the digitalisation of urban infrastructure and property management.
From AI to Urban Technologies
The Startup category traditionally attracted the largest number of applications, with 1,726 projects submitted. Participants included developers of solutions for construction, industry, healthcare, the urban environment and other sectors.
Projects included a digital platform for building inspections, technology for 3D printing of large-scale objects, and a digital city guide featuring routes and information on urban locations. Particular attention was also given to artificial intelligence and digital technologies that help companies optimise processes and develop new products.
Winners in the startup nominations were:
- Breakthrough Growth — a developer of a suite of services and products for robotics education based on open-source hardware and software;
- International Expansion — a platform for launching and managing multi-user VR and MR arenas;
- Best Youth Startup — a developer of a corporate AI platform with autonomous agents designed to automate procurement, technical documentation workflows and other business processes;
- Best Artificial Intelligence Solution — an AI-powered system for product labelling, traceability and machine vision in manufacturing;
- Best Innovation for the City — an autonomous robotic system for professional indoor cleaning.
One of this year’s additions to the award was a special prize for the Best GigaAgent Implementation Case. The nomination was open to startups that had developed solutions based on the AI service to improve the efficiency of workflows within their products.
The winner was a company that developed a digital platform for the Ingush language. The team proposed using GigaAgent to analyse unsuccessful search queries. The improvements identified through the system have already helped resolve 20% of unsuccessful requests and saved a linguist approximately 370 hours of manual analysis. The project received 500 million tokens to continue its work with GigaAgent.
Regions, Universities and Media
The Regions and Universities category was also among the three categories with the highest number of applications, attracting 108 submissions from 11 regions. Participants presented initiatives supporting technology companies and developing entrepreneurial ecosystems within universities.
The Best Regional Practice for Supporting Startups and Venture Investors nomination recognised initiatives helping technology companies grow and attract investment. The winner was the Investment and Venture Fund of the Republic of Tatarstan.
The Best Technology Entrepreneurship Ecosystem at a University nomination assessed educational institutions that create an environment conducive to launching student startups. The award went to the team from Ufa University of Science and Technology.
The Media category also attracted significant interest, with 63 submissions, including 32 media projects and 31 journalistic works focused on technology entrepreneurship.
The submissions covered artificial intelligence and robotics, new solutions for industry and healthcare, startup development and the venture capital market. Participants highlighted not only technologies themselves, but also the teams behind them, investment raising, scaling and the implementation of solutions in business.
The winners were Career and Entrepreneurship, a project by the Russian edition of Forbes, and Oleg Kapranov, editor of the Technology project at Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
Investors and Corporations
A separate section of the award was dedicated to venture market participants. Investors competed in the categories Most Active Venture Fund, Best Exit, Most Active Business Angel, Most Active Business Angel Club, and Most Active Startup Studio.
- KAMA FLOW was named Most Active Venture Fund.
- Maxim Pustovoy was named Most Active Business Angel. Maxim began investing in startups in 2026 and has already invested in four companies.
- INVESTORO, an international community of investors, mentors and entrepreneurs focused on developing venture capital expertise and facilitating deals, won the Most Active Business Angel Club nomination.
- IRNITU Startup Studio was named Best Startup Studio, having launched seven startups during the reporting period.
Three nominations were created for corporations, reflecting different models of cooperation with technology companies: Best Pilot Project with a Startup, Best Systematic Practice for Working with Startups, and Best Innovative Initiative for Working with Startups.
The award therefore recognised not only technology developers themselves, but also companies that create opportunities for testing, implementing and scaling innovative solutions.
- VkusVill received the award for Best Systematic Practice for Working with Startups, having launched 87 pilot tests.
- The cooperation between Hals-Development and Virsign Innovations was recognised as the Best Pilot Project with a Startup. The companies tested a remotely operated construction tower crane.
- TMK R&D Centre received the award for Best Innovative Initiative for Working with Startups for its Scientific Accelerator, a dedicated programme within the corporate accelerator that brings together the corporation’s researchers and teams of young scientists.
The winners were selected by an expert jury comprising executives from Russian companies, entrepreneurs and investors, representatives of government authorities and specialised educational institutions.
“The award was conceived as a way to recognise the achievements of all participants in the innovation ecosystem. Its key distinction is that it encompasses not only startups, but also investors, corporations, regional development institutions, universities and media organisations that make a systematic contribution to supporting and promoting technology entrepreneurship,” said Alexey Katkov, Senior Vice President and Head of the Advanced Investment Centre.
Awards Presented at the Moscow Startup Summit
The awards ceremony was the closing event of the two-day Moscow Startup Summit, held on September 29–30 at SberCity. Over the course of two days, the venue brought together technology entrepreneurs, investors, representatives of major corporations, development institutions and the scientific community.
Depending on the category, winners received media support, grants from Cloud.ru, training in Artificial Intelligence at School 21, stays at the all-season Manzherok resort, and SberBoom smart speakers.
The award’s partner, Sitronics Group, is a Russian technology company that develops solutions for transport, telecommunications, data storage and processing, and the electric power industry. Its portfolio includes integrated solutions for urban environments and security, digital infrastructure for businesses and government, as well as technological solutions for strategic sectors of the economy, shipping and marine navigation.
The Technology Award formed part of the Moscow Startup Summit’s business programme and recognised projects and teams that are developing technology businesses, creating new solutions and establishing models of cooperation between startups, investors, corporations, government institutions and universities.