Russia’s largest bank teamed up with ADG and 500 Startups to teach product design to the top 25 startups in Russia. The collaboration led to investments of over 10 Million RUB.

The First Russian-American Accelerator

Sberbank is the largest bank in Russia and ranks on Fortune’s Global 500 list at #255. With nearly 300,000 employees and $44.9 Billion (USD) in revenue Sberbank is in the unique position to exercise great influence over the Russian economy.

The CEO of Sberbank, German Gref, wished to foster innovation within Sberbank and support the startup scene in Russia by hosting the first Russian-American accelerator for the top 25 startups in Russia for 9 weeks in Moscow. The accelerator would be run alongside partnerships with Sberbank business units to foster collaboration between the two and allow both to benefit from Silicon Valley expertise.

ADG was asked by 500 Startups to come in and teach lectures and workshops on design-thinking and product design relevant for the startups and business units. ADG was also asked to mentor these 25 startups on a one-to-one basis to improve their product and guide the startups to overcome their design challenges.

Bringing Businesses Together

The accelerator led to significant exchange between startups and Sberbank business units. Sberbank invested 10 Million RUB into the Startup companies across 29 investments. There were 792 meetings conducted, which led to the launch of 67 pilot projects and an additional 67 currently in the pipeline. Further, 154 contracts were signed by the startups between Sberbank business units and other clients.