Excursiopedia, a Russian-German startup, was the winner of a pitch competition in Russia last week. Offering a multi-lingual online service to book travel excursions in 600 cities worldwide, Excursiopedia beat 30 other presenting companies at the 42 Conference and Startup exhibition.
The event was held in Red October, a converted confectionary factory which is now a hub for tech startups in Moscow. The jury judging the six finalists were Alain Caffi (Ventech Capital), Fadi Bishara (BlackBox), Max Godzi (InCube), David Waroquier (Mangrove Capital Partners), Lydia Tsarenko (Premium Telecom) and Alexander Rhea (PWC).
After receiving the prize of 10 free hours of consulting from PWC, Yulian Patzelt, one of the four founders of Excursiopedia said "It is great to see that the dynamic start-up community in Moscow and Russia is managing to attract international interest, which was clearly there when one looks at the high-profile international participants."
Speakers at the 42 Conference included Gil Goren, VP of Global New Business Development at EMC, based in Israel. EMC has made two acquisitions in Russia and has an R&D center with 300 engineers but hasn’t yet taken any minority stakes in businesses in Russia.
Intel Capital last week announced an investment in Russian-based firm Speaktoit, a human-computer interface which rivals iPhone’s Siri. Another Intel Capital deal is rumoured to be imminent in Russia. When asked what advice he would give to other corporates considering investing in Russia, Igor Taber, Intel Capital’s director in Russia said "It’s not for the faint-hearted."