An innovation development agreement was signed earlier this week between the Skolkovo Foundation’s IT cluster and Nizhny Novgorod’s Clever Innovation Business Incubator, Clever announced on its website.

Under the terms of the agreement, the parties will join forces to drive innovation entrepreneurship both in the incubator and across the entire Nizhny Novgorod region.

The agreement calls for a broad range of collaborative efforts, including an increase in the number of innovation companies and new jobs in the region; the raising of venture capital to support advanced technologies; the development of innovation start-ups, including university spin-offs, focused on R&D; support of the full cycle of innovation process from education and research to product commercialization.

Nizhny-based companies will now receive help from Skolkovo experts in developing business plans and will be entitled to participate in Skolkovo IT projects competitions seeking grants for the development of their businesses.

Set up in 2007, the Clever Business Incubator fosters high-tech entrepreneurship in the Nizhny Novgorod region, drawing upon international experience and best practices.