The Open Innovations Startup Tour was held on January 23-24 and gathered more than 700 participants at Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) in Vladivostok, Russia. This Skolkovo-led event was co-sponsored by a wide range of partners, including Primorsky Regional Government, FEFU, and Russky Technopark. During 2 days of the Startup Tour, Russky Technopark residents and other hi-tech companies from the Russian Far East presented their ambitious projects in the tracks of industrial and energy technologies, biotechnology in medicine and agriculture, and information technologies. Besides the pitches, the program included the seminars, master classes and round tables from the top hi-tech experts.Skolkovo regional operator status gives Russky Technopark an opportunity to offer hi-tech companies of the Russian Far East the same support and services, as those offered by Skolkovo. Entrepreneurs of the Russian Far East will get access to an internal tracking system for applications and grants, which will allow them to track all stages of projects' consideration. Moreover, Russky Technopark experts will provide all projects with detailed consultations on the procedure of getting a Skolkovo resident status.

The best projects from each track were selected for the Grand Final, which took place on January 24. The expert panel included Skolkovo Foundation Chairman Mr. Arkady Dvorkovich, Primorsky Regional Government Chairman Dr. Vera Shcherbina, FEFU President Dr. Nikita Anisimov, the representatives from VEB Ventures and PJSC "Bank Otkritie FC". The final was also attended by other distinguished guests, namely the Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Vladivostok Mr. Yan Wenbin who addressed the audience on the role of Russia – China cooperation in innovations, as well as Director of the Japan Center in Vladivostok Mr. Kazuyoshi Mukai, Deputy Director of KOTRA in Vladivostok Mr. Sang Min Woo, and Consul of Japan in Vladivostok Mr. Yoshitaka Noda.

"FEFU regularly hosts different events for attracting new promising projects for the innovative development of the Russian Far East. There are various competitions, hackathons, meetups, and pitch-sessions involving high-level Russian and foreign experts, who evaluate and consult our projects. We are happy that FEFU became a platform for the 10th season of the all-Russian Open Innovations Startup Tour conducted with the support of Russky Technopark", said Dmitry Borovikov, Russky Technopark CEO.

The first prize of the Startup Tour in Vladivostok was granted to the ROBOT Ltd Company, which introduced its project "Robot Adam", the first personal robot for education and research in Russia operated via VR technologies. The "Robot Adam" developer, Mr. Alexander Ganyushkin, was awarded with a prize of 300 thousand rubles (about 5000 US dollars) and the opportunity to participate in the Startup Village 2020 semifinal in Moscow.