Gazprom Neft is to launch an acceleration programme to support technology start-ups and solutions in exploration and production, Industry 4.0, capital construction, and alternative energy — Alexei Vashkevich, Director for Technological Development, Gazprom Neft, having used the opportunity of the Startup Village conference on 24 May 2021 to highlight the company’s work in this area.

Gazprom Neft plans to recruit developers and projects across more than 70 areas. Participants will go through several stages of assessment and selection, ultimately resulting in the most promising projects coming to the fore. Selected start-ups will receive expert support from Gazprom Neft and its partners, as well as acquiring the knowledge and skills to develop and scale-up their developments on the open market. Programme participants will be able to pilot test their technologies at Gazprom Neft subsidiaries’ facilities and integrate these into the company’s technological and operational processes. The programme final will involve projects being selected for presentation at demo-days with potential investors.

Projects making the cut will be able to apply for targeted funding, including from the New Industry Ventures fund — a joint venture fund involving Gazprom Neft, Gazprombank, Russian Venture Company (RVC) and VEB Ventures.

This corporate accelerator is set to become one of the tools used in addressing the technological challenges faced by Gazprom Neft. Gazpromneft-Technology Partnerships will manage the project on the company’s side, with the Skolkovo Foundation — having experience in project-acceleration in the oil and gas industry — acting as operator of the programme.

“Technological leadership is one of Gazprom Neft’s strategic goals. We are committed to building up the most promising ideas and know-how available, to then be utilised in our industry. And we want to use these not just independently, but also by offering them to the market, and scaling them up — in the interests of the oil and gas industry as a whole. We have a real affinity with the concept of open innovation — which envisages consolidating and sharing experience, resources and intellectual potential. So our job is to put in place the widest circle of potential participants possible, giving them the opportunity to fulfil their ideas and develop alongside us.”