The Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), one of the country’s leading graduate science universities, has launched its own $30 million seed fund.
The fund, called Phystech Ventures, is focussed on incubating and growing MIPT-related tech companies in the fintech, edutech, digital health, 3D-printing, efficient energy use and oil & gas technology sectors.
As an individual investor it aims to invest around $500,000 in projects, but it is willing to offer more in syndicate deals with other VC firms and business angels.
The fund is managed by Pyotr Lukyanov, who was previously the director of Skolkovo’s investment department, and Olga Maslikhova, who is known for her work at Runa Capital and Troika Dialogue.
The fund has also enlisted Runa Capital’s Sergei Beloussov and Dmitry Chikhachev, Almaz Capital’s Alexander Galitsky, Bashneft vice-president Oleg Mikhailov and William Guttman of Carnegie Innovations to be part of its strategic team.
The fund is among the investors in the recently-opened Navigator Campus technopark in Kazan. Navigator is the country’s first privately-funded technopark, as well as its first hardware-oriented one.
