South Ural State University has hosted the official opening of the fifth anniversary season of the SUSU Accelerator, a big-scale program supporting student entrepreneurship and innovative ideas. Hundreds of young people ready to turn their own ideas into real business projects have joined the initiative.
The SUSU Accelerator is a three-month business intensive course during which aspiring entrepreneurs will go from an idea to a working prototype. Participants will develop a project concept, study the market and target audience, calculate the economic model, and develop an MVP (minimum viable product).
“It is a great pleasure to welcome all the participants at the start of the new season. The Accelerator is not a boring university lecture. First and foremost, it is an opportunity to assess yourself and your abilities, learn how to interact with a team and experts, and, most importantly, develop your own idea. The product that your idea can grow into is something you can make money on, develop and promote, and something you can truly be proud of. Therefore, actively participate in all the program’s activities and try to answer three key questions: Who will be interested in your project? Will you be able to turn your idea into a product that people need? And, finally, the most important question: How will you make money on this idea and product? Good luck! We believe in you!” Rector of South Ural State University Alexander Wagner addressed the participants.
For many years, the Skolkovo Foundation has been a partner of the Accelerator. The Foundation’s experts and trackers help participants assess the potential of their projects, identify growth opportunities, and develop strategies for their further advancement.
Yury Sibirskiy, Head of the Regional Development Department at the Skolkovo Foundation, emphasized:
“It is very valuable that so many participants have come to the opening of the Accelerator and are ready to engage in the process of creating a technology business. This is truly important and interesting. Ahead of you is the exploration of your own ideas and work on what they can ultimately become. I hope that the anniversary season of the Accelerator will be successful. And its success will be measured not only by the number of participants, but above all by how many teams you manage to form, how many successful businesses you create, and how many of your own ambitions you manage to realize.”
Throughout the project, participants will work together with trackers, business mentors, and SUSU faculty members. The program’s partners will also contribute to the development of the projects by presenting real-world tasks and current challenges requiring technological and entrepreneurial solutions.
The educational program includes 29 educational events, 12 meetings with trackers and mentors, four pitch sessions, discussions, practical sessions, and master classes conducted by entrepreneurs and experts. This format will enable participants not only to gain new knowledge but also to immediately apply it while working on their own projects.
The opening of the new season continued with panel discussions devoted to entrepreneurship and startup development.
As part of the “Success Stories of Accelerator Participants” panel discussion, graduates of previous seasons shared their projects, experience of participating in the program, and secrets of success: Artur Shamselov, winner of the 2024 SUSU Accelerator; Stanislav Frolov, a member of the TOP 10 of the 2025 SUSU Accelerator; Sofiia Kirzhatskikh, winner of the 2025 SUSU Accelerator; and Pavel Rodin, silver medallist of the 2025 SUSU Accelerator.
Sofiia’s story is a vivid example of how an initial idea can be transformed into a promising project during the Accelerator. Today, her team is developing an automated system for monitoring sanitary standards, and the project itself has already received additional support for implementation.
“Initially, we had a completely different idea, but thanks to the Accelerator’s experts, we decided to change direction and take a new look at the project. During my participation in the program, I managed to gather a strong team of professionals, and together we decided not to stop there. After the Accelerator, we took part in the Student Startup competition and won one million roubles to further develop our product,” Sofiia Kirzhatskikh shared.
Another panel discussion brought together representatives of business, technology startups, and creativity industries. The experts discussed how to turn a student idea into a product that meets market demands, what steps an aspiring entrepreneur needs to take, and what role partners and the professional community play in project development.
The discussion was attended by Yury Sibirskiy, Head of the Regional Development Department at the Skolkovo Foundation; Alexey Uskov, founder of the Insmartavtomatika group of companies; Anton Nurkenov, GR Director at StandupInnovatsii LLC; Ekaterina Lapaeva, Director of the GIGA SCHOOL IT Competence Development Centre; Yaroslav Golub, Head of INTEC; and Aleksandr Dolmatov, founder of the RTS Research and Production Association. The discussion was moderated by Dmitry Kozlenkov, Director of the SUSU School 21.
To close the event, the participants were introduced to the program of the new season and the Accelerator’s industrial partners. The companies had prepared cases based on current production and business challenges that the participants would have to solve while working on their projects.
The participants now have three months to test their ideas in practice, receive support from experts and mentors, and take their first steps towards creating their own startups.
The SUSU Accelerator is implemented with the support of the NTI Platform Autonomous Non-profit Organization, the Technologies Federal Project, and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.