Abstract

Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF) is a venture capital (VC) fund plus start-up accelerator launched in 2013 by Russia’s Agency for Strategic Initiatives at the behest of the country’s President. Kirill Varlamov is the Executive Director of IIDF. The case covers the launch of IIDF, its acceleration model and key strategic challenges.

Learning Objectives

After analyzing the case, students will be able to:
1. Describe the methods and operations of a structured accelerator system, the start-up accelerator business model that enables start-ups to move to the next stage of their journey.
2. Analyze the traits and challenges of emerging country entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship, including the agile and often unstructured emerging market dynamics that see unrestrained and yet creative approaches to doing business.
3. Understand the role of the state to enable an ecosystem and promote innovation in state capitalist economies.
4. The importance of internationalization or of being a born-global entrepreneur, especially for start-ups outside the US and China.
5. Comprehend the leadership needed to become an entrepreneur of entrepreneurs and start-up an accelerator of start-ups.
6. Assess the performance of the accelerator and at a higher level whether Russia is “being accelerated,” and how the country’s start-up potential is starting to materialize though IIDF.