OREANDA-NEWS. September 23, 2010. Global Innovation Partnerships announced that a high-profile Silicon Valley trade delegation to Russia will be held on October 9-14, 2010.

The trade delegation, which will coincide with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s upcoming official visit to Russia, will consist of many Silicon Valley luminaries, including:

Former Intel chairman Craig Barrett;

DCM Co-Founder and General Partner Dixon Doll;

DFJ Managing Director Tim Draper;

Hummer Winblad Managing Director Mark Gorenberg;

DFJ-VTB Aurora Managing Director Alexandra Johnson;

Asset Management Company founder Franklin “Pitch” Johnson;

Silicon Valley Bank chairman Harry Kellogg; and

New Enterprise Associates Co-Founder and Managing Director Dick Kramlich.

In Russia, the delegation will meet with country leadership, Minister of Education & Science Andrey Fursenko, Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov, Russian Venture Company General Director Igor Agamirzian, Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies (RUSNANO) Chairman Anatoly Chubays, and Skolkovo Innovation City Co-Chairman Viktor Vekselberg, as well as with many of Russia’s most innovative companies.

In addition to visiting Skolkovo, Russia’s newly-created “innovation city” and answer to Silicon Valley, the delegation will visit Kazan, Tatarstan, which is a regional center for technology and innovation. Members of the delegation will share their insights into how to nurture start-ups into global technology companies.

Mikhail Chuchkevich, Director of RUSNANO’s Project Office, added, “Global Innovation Partnership trade delegations will be a key component of efforts to accelerate the development of innovative businesses, especially in the nanotechnology sector.”

Alexandra Johnson, President of the Global Technology Symposium, said, “As the technology industry matures, Silicon Valley investors have begun searching for the Next Big Thing in emerging markets. We hope that this mission convinces them that the Next Big Thing may come from Russia.”

Evgeny Kuznetsov, Director of Communication at Russian Venture Company, commented, “Russia is actively developing a network of innovation centers and institutes. We seek to achieve in several years what it took Silicon Valley decades to achieve. To this end, nothing is more valuable than the expertise of Silicon Valley’s key business leaders. We will collaborate on specific investment projects to promote Russian companies in the global market.”

The October delegation will be the first in a series of several trade missions.

Global Innovation Partnerships is a joint venture of the Global Technology Symposium, RUSNANO, Russian Venture Company, Silicon Valley Bank, and Skolkovo Innovation City and is supported by the U.S.-Russia Business Council.

About the organizers

Global Technology Symposium

The Global Technology Symposium is the leading investment conference on venture capital, technology, and entrepreneurship in emerging markets. Each year, the Symposium brings more than 300 selected opinion leaders in business, finance, technology, and policymaking to Silicon Valley, where they share insights into the opportunities and challenges of globalization. The next Symposium will take place on March 23-25, 2011.