Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –
On June 27, 2025, the final of the All-Russian competition of final qualification works in the format “Startup as a Diploma” was held at the National Center “Russia”, the winner of which was a student of the State University of Management.
The author of the best startup in Russia, a 4th-year student of the Institute of Industry Management of the State University of Management of the educational program “Small and Medium Business Management” Danila Yakovlev, has developed a glass processing technology that allows obtaining a finished product for sale – glass pebbles. The project “
The Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov, the Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Olga Petrova and the Deputy Director of the Department of State Youth Policy and Educational Activities of the Ministry of Education and Science Alexander Vedekhin, as well as the First Deputy Chair of the Committee on Science and Higher Education of the State Duma Ksenia Goryacheva addressed the young entrepreneurs and guests of the event with welcoming words.
Our student’s performance did not leave the members of the expert jury indifferent – following the results of the final pitches, Danila Yakovlev became the absolute winner of the competition and took 1st place. In addition, he received a special prize from the Moscow School of Management “Skolkovo”, a certificate for participation in the acceleration program “Academy of Innovators” and other gifts from the competition partners. The scientific director of the project Victoria Degtyareva received special gratitude.
Only 14 finalists presented their innovative ideas to the expert jury. The podium of honor looks like this:
1st place – startup “Innovative glass pebbles”#Proesklo “, State University of Management;
2nd place – startup “Automated irrigation system – Control’s”, Russian State Agrarian University – MSCHA named after K.A. Timiryazeva;
3rd place – Startup Recyclix – plastic processing, Far Eastern Federal University.
The event brought together over 400 participants – students from different regions of Russia, experts, entrepreneurs, industry representatives, universities and government bodies. The hosts were Olga Serebryannikova, Director of the Project Office for the Development of Youth Entrepreneurship in Higher Education Institutions, and Andrey Goryachev, a finalist of the 2024 Startup as a Diploma competition. The young entrepreneurs and guests of the event were addressed with welcoming speeches by the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Valery Falkov, First Deputy Chairperson of the Committee on Science and Higher Education of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Ksenia Goryacheva, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Olga Petrova and Deputy Director of the Department of State Youth Policy and Educational Activities of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia Alexander Vedekhin.
The final became an important part of the large-scale joint work of university teams, mentors and partners in the development of youth entrepreneurship. Students and employees of the State University of Management, including his scientific supervisor, Associate Professor of the Department of Innovation Management Victoria Degtyareva, came to support Danila at the final stage of the competition. Also on the day of the final, an exhibition of the TOP-50 projects of the Startup as a Diploma competition of 2025 was held at the site of the National Center “Russia”, where one could get acquainted with another innovative development of the State University of Management – the project of the Business Incubator resident Mikhail Zorin HolterTECH (a wireless Holter designed to monitor the work of the heart), which was also highly appreciated by the experts of the competition this year.
We asked Danila Yakovlev for details about his project.
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What is unique about your product and what advantages does it provide? — The technology itself is not unique, but for some reason large businesses do not use it. Construction companies tried to make materials cheaper with this technology, but we transferred the product to another industry where people are willing to pay for beauty and comfort. In addition, we were able to significantly reduce the time and labor costs of the processing process, which allows us to save on electricity and human resources. Plus, given the integration into an existing business, our raw material cost is negative, that is, the waste generator pays us to take this glass from them. It should also be added that the production line can fit on 100 square meters, and only two operators can control it. In terms of numbers, this is a very promising project.
What investments will be required to fully launch the project? – We have outlined several stages of investment. At the first stage, we will need 3.5 million rubles to purchase equipment to complete the first line, launch and adjust the process.
What difficulties do you face in the process of project implementation and how do you overcome them? — The main problem today is that I have 24 hours in a day, like everyone else. I understand that all entrepreneurs are busy people. Every hour is not that expensive, but it is very valuable. Sometimes there is simply not enough time to sleep or spend time with family. In addition, unemployment in Russia is now extremely low, everyone works somewhere, but for some reason no one wants to here. Fortunately, there are young ambitious students who are eager to work not for money, but for the sake of prospects. And in general, you can’t say “problems”. There are tasks that need to be solved. And there are dreams. I invite everyone to achieve them together. We now need a warehouse manager, even a young one with no experience, we need simple warehouse employees, sales managers. We need everyone. If you want, we will accept everyone. We have a lot of ideas, we have an agreement with the State University of Management and students can do paid internships with us. I think together we can build a cool future.
How do you see the future?
The full interview with Danila Yakovlev will soon be available on the GUU channel on RuTube.
We are posting Danila’s contact on Telegram for those who would like to join his project or do an internship: https://t.me/yakovleff_dan
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