U.S.-Russia Innovation Corridor met Russian edtech start-ups

Three education technology start-ups from Russia traveled to the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore regions on March 2-12 as part of the U.S.-Russia Innovation Corridor (USRIC) program,  announced  American Councils for International Education administering the initiative. 

Funded by the US-Russia Foundation, USRIC connects Russian start-ups to universities, scientists, business development experts, industry associations, and customers in the U.S. with the goal of accelerating commercial activity and creating win-win economic partnerships. 

“The number of Russian start-ups applying to participate in the USRIC program demonstrates a serious interest on the part of Russian entrepreneurs and innovators in making contacts and exploring market opportunities in the U.S. This represents a new and relatively untapped source of cooperation among researchers, as well as businesses, in both countries,” said Dr. Dan E. Davidson, President of American Councils for International Education. 

Russian start-ups participating in the March delegation included: 

• Azbuka – an education content processing platform that distributes licensed content (including multimedia) from leading e-publishers, such as Pearson, through learning management systems. 
• Edutainme – a team of edtech enthusiasts that unite secondary, higher, and professional education through an online media platform, research laboratory, and professional development center. 
• Hybinar – a platform that allows audiences to broadcast, interact, and take notes real time via a mobile device while watching online presentations, courses, and lectures. 

Throughout the intensive two-week working visit, the start-ups met with U.S. investors and companies focused on education technology, including Village Capital, Discovery Education, Blackboard, and Pearson. The delegation toured Betamore and ETC, two of Baltimore’s leading business incubators focused on accelerating the growth of early-stage companies, as well as education technology centers at George Washington University and George Mason University. Throughout the visit, U.S. experts shared perspectives on intellectual property protection, market entry strategies, and key trends in educational technology. 

In April, another group of six Russian tech start-ups is using the U.S.-Russia Innovation Corridor to visit the University of Maryland, College Park. These will represent the Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod (UNN) in the mid-Volga area and the Perm Polytechnic University (PNRPU) in the West Urals. UNN and the University of Maryland are founding partners of the USRIC. 

Since its launch in late 2013, the U.S.-Russia Innovation Corridor has provided mentorship and organized intensive working visits for over 20 start-ups from academic institutions, including UNN, PNRPU, the Yaroslavl State University (Central Russia), the National Mining University in St. Petersburg (Northwest Russia), and the Volga (Kazan) Federal University in the mid-Volga area.

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