IT-park through the eyes of a resident

    The IT Park in Naberezhnye Chelny is the largest and one of the first IT technology parks in Russia. For some reason, many of my familiar experts did not even hear about him, and about the opportunities that he gives startup teams.

    A year ago, I lived in Ufa and planned to create my own software product.(online constructor of real and virtual quests). Today, our company is a resident of the IT park in Naberezhnye Chelny, we developed a prototype application, and reached the final of several federal and international competitions, winning 800 thousand rubles under the START scientific program. Moreover, our partners are already making money using our application. A considerable part of our small success today is due to the titanic work of the guys from Kazan and Chelny, who made the IT-park project a reality.



    A lot of photos!

    2 years ago, in a short time (and they know how to build quickly in Tatarstan), the only technopark in Russia was created in Kazan, specializing exclusively in information technology.
    Video guide to Kazan IT-park
    from the former director of the IT park, and now the development director of the Runa Capital fund, Ramil Ibragimov:


    A year after the opening, the IT-park was packed to capacity, and the construction of the second site of the Kazan IT-park was started, which became even bigger and cooler. The IT-park in Chelny is a former unfinished building in which it was planned to host the Kamaz computer center. By the way, the huge plant itself is located directly behind the IT park, and a helipad is located nearby.



    In 2012, the Startup-Sabantuy expedition traveled to major cities of the Volga region to conduct master classes as part of a startup school.







    Later, the winners and many finalists of Startup-Sabantuy became the first residents of the IT park in Chelny. And I was among them.





    IT-park has repeatedly been called the best technology park in Russia. Today, more than 130 representatives of small and medium IT businesses and residents of the business incubator from 18 cities of Russia work here. Among the residents are companies operating at a global level. For example, SPRUT is a developer of systems in the field of automation of production preparation. Their main product - SprutCAM software - is used in 45 countries.

    Inside, the IT park of Chelny is not much different from its older brother from Kazan. The main hall looks breathtaking: LED poles, a video mosaic of projectors on glass, behind which you can see the server room.



    The access control control system is centralized, each door is equipped with an NFC and a fingerprint scanner. Guests are issued cards that must be dropped into the turnstile upon exit. Each entry and exit is taken into account, so it’s impossible to skip someone by their pass or fingerprint.



    View from the panoramic elevator to the atrium with a glass roof:





    In rented offices - already familiar open space.





    The main pride of the IT park is a huge business incubator and coworking for 240 jobs!





    An informal conversation with ottomans, plasma and Xbox.





    Each cube, as we call the offices of the incubator, is given for 2 projects. Some guys come together and work together as a large team on several projects.



    Now the incubator is mostly full, but not all new residents are ready to immediately drop everything and come to a foreign city to develop their startup.

    At the other end of the incubator, we have a horizontal bar and a tennis table, where small tournaments are held every day.



    And on a special white wall, famous and successful people write their parting words to residents



    . Building B contains:

    Dining room



    Conference hall



    Press center Meeting



    rooms (incidentally, free for incubator residents)



    IT-park does not give out money, like accelerators and, moreover, does not appropriate a share in the company. For services of business incubation, the resident pays 6,000 rubles a month, and receives accounting, personnel and legal services, assistance from project managers, regular visits by investors and experts, and 3 fully equipped workplaces. It is worth noting the own mini-exchange of freelancers in coworking a floor below (you can personally go down and taunt the performer for handshake), as well as a free server for residents in the data center of the Kazan IT park.



    But for me, perhaps the most important thing was the party in which every project struggles to stop being a startup and become a real business. According to the experience of Kazan IT-park, we can say that many succeed! Now, residents of the incubator of the Chelny IT Park have raised a total of $ 2.2 million in investments from venture funds and private investors and have won grants worth more than 12 million rubles from federal and republican funds.

    Over the past six months, our project has made more than 20 applications and more than 30 speeches before we first achieved the first serious results: 2nd place at the Aeroflot international competition - for the entertainment system on board (joint development of several IT park projects) and 800 thousand rubles from Bortnik Foundation.

    I wish everyone who is just dreaming or has already started their business in the field of information technology, to be persistent and realize their dream. You can also try to become residents of the IT park business incubator, so that perhaps your goal becomes closer.

    Soon, IT-park is conducting a new Startup-sabantuy in the cities:



    This is a great opportunity to develop your startup, find partners, mentors, investors, join our friendly company and “shoot”.



    Before Br e chi!

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