When asked by a ComNews correspondent in

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TS StartUp Day took place on December 12. Dmitry Kurin, CEO of MTS StartUp Hub, said that the MTS venture fund in Russia has been working with startups for seven years: "We invest and implement in Mobile TeleSystems PJSC (MTS), and also help the market. Over the entire period of our fund's activity, we have invested 1.2 billion rubles in startups, and the portfolio revenue this year is already twice as much. The startup hub began as an accelerator. We have conducted 10 acceleration programs, and in 2024 we have done as many as three."

which of the areas the denmark telegram fund sees the greatest potential, Dmitry Kurin replied that the main trend is towards technologization and optimization: "This is artificial intelligence, which is being implemented into production as a virtual assistant, and we are also interested in technological business models, such as, for example, from the Puzzle company, which is modernizing the gray construction market. This is a new direction for us. If we take the number of requests from companies that contact our fund and which we track, then it is 30% to 70%."

Dmitry Kurin believes that there are few good projects on the market and that there is currently a pipeline crisis (a sequence of actions or processes that are performed to achieve a given goal). "MTS StartUp Hub has begun to lower the stage and enter into transactions together with syndicates, business clubs and early funds. Our venture fund exists within MTS StartUp Hub and was initially focused on investing in startups at stage A+ and B, which can be integrated into the MTS ecosystem. However, in 2024, we revised the fund's strategy. Changes in the market and in the IT landscape of Russia have led us to the need to increase risk appetite and diversify investments," Dmitry Kurin emphasized.

He clarified that the fund will now work in two directions: