OREANDA-NEWS. The Moscow Business School SKOLKOVO announces the start of large-scale changes in its work with young entrepreneurs. Yuri Mitin, the founder of MSU business incubator and SKOLKOVO EMBA alumnus, is appointed the new head of the Startup Academy, an intensive programme for developing businesses from scratch. The structural changes in the Startup Academy indicate the transition to a qualitatively new level of the programme integration into the school community.

"We are refocusing the programme in accordance with the requirements of Russian business. Firstly, we are placing our stake on Russian practitioners willing to share their expertise. Meanwhile, we are certainly not going to stop our interaction with the best foreign professors. Secondly, the Startup Academy will become a part of a great entrepreneurial ecosystem in SKOLKOVO business school. This synergy will allow for active development of our projects after their presentation, as well as for attracting funds ," - said Yuri Mitin .

The Startup Academy integration with the Entrepreneurial Community will be carried out in the following areas:

Support of the students' projects by the association of the business schools mentors: the founders and entrepreneurs with experience in managing national and international companies;

Startup Academy students will be able to use the infrastructure of the Entrepreneurial Community to develop their projects, including the independent directors club, the international investors club, and the business incubator;

The possibility to develop their projects in the accelerator, created jointly with the Centre for Innovative Development of the Moscow Government.

It is expected that there will be a new educational product within the Entrepreneurial Community. The programme is meant not only for young entrepreneurs, but also for development institutions - venture capital funds and accelerators.

“This is going to be the first project of the kind in Russia. We now have educational and developmental programmes for entrepreneurs in the market, while we all feel that there is more demand from development structures - accelerators, incubators and venture funds. It is important for them to understand clearly how their proposed acceleration programme is going to affect the market prospects of the projects they have invested in and supported - in order to overbalance their financial and organizational investments," - said Maxim Karpov, head of the SKOLKOVO Entrepreneurial Community.

The enrollment starts in the spring of 2014, while the fifth grade of the Startup Academy starts classes in June.

"The changes in the Startup Academy reflect our desire to build a business community of intellectuals around the school. I am delighted that the graduates stay in school and develop new ideas. Yuri Mitin actively communicates with young entrepreneurs, has a great understanding of the market and knows the SKOLKOVO specifics,” - said Dean of the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO Andrey Sharonov. - “I'm sure he will succeed in creating a centre of attraction for young entrepreneurs, which will later become a part of the Russian business community. We are also grateful to Lawrence Wright, who led the programme for two years, put a lot of knowledge and expertise into it, and now runs his own project.”

Startup Academy was launched in the spring of 2012. Four classes with the overall number of 100 students have graduated from it in two years. The programme graduates have already attracted several million dollars to their projects.