The Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF), the creation of which was supported by Vladimir Putin, will allocate investments in the amount of up to 1 million rubles for more than 30 aspiring entrepreneurs as part of the “Startups on the Internet” project, reported on Tuesday. ITAR-TASS

According to the head of the fund, Kirill Varlamov, after selecting applicants from more than 200 Russian cities, as a result, 32 projects received starting investments of up to 1 million rubles and the opportunity to work in Moscow. He noted that most startups are related to the automation of business processes; there are also many projects related to education, e-commerce and the consumer sector.

“If the guys demonstrate good performance, then at the end of the so-called Investor Day they will be noticed and will be able to participate in the next round and already qualify for investments in the amount of up to 15 billion rubles,” Varlamov said in an interview with the agency.

On Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin also meets with project participants with the participation of the Chairman of the Board of the Foundation, Sergei Mikhailov, Director of the IIDF Kirill Varlamov, First Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Administration Vyacheslav Volodin and Minister of Communications and Mass Communications Nikolai Nikiforov.

In July 2013, a set of projects was announced for the first accelerator of the fund - a three-month educational and consulting program. By the first of October, more than 1,000 applications had been received. In addition to the selected 32 projects for which funding from the fund will be allocated, several dozen more will receive remote access to educational programs and expert consultations. Teams that did not make it into the top 100 received access to training video courses and practical recommendations for participation in the next selection in December of this year.

Also in December, IIDF intends to launch a school-club for private professional investors. At the same time, a crowdinvesting platform for searching startups for co-investment will be opened, the agency reports.

Over a three-year period, within the framework of the IIDF investment program, it is planned to finance up to 400 projects at the initial stage, up to 80 more developed projects and up to 40 mature projects. After 3-5 years of operation, the Fund plans to sell its shares in projects and invest the proceeds in new startups.

The Putin Foundation will allocate more than 30 million rubles to Internet startups