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Techstars Startup Weekend
● The format54hFriday 18:00 pitch → Sunday 21:00 demo. Teams form on the spot.
We organise Techstars Startup Weekend Moscow - the world’s 54-hour startup marathon, in partnership with Google for Startups. Friday you pitch an idea to strangers; Sunday your team demos a validated product to judges. When the world locked down we took it online in a weekend - the COVID-19 edition ran across all of Russia.
Join the waiting list → Hour by hour
Sunday, 21:00 · June 2019Digi.gift took the weekend.“Put up the site, worked out the economics, drew the key screens, spoke to customers. Took first place.” - the Digi.gift team
At a glance
No talk. All action.
● Fri → Sun54hPitch Friday, demo Sunday.
● The pitch60sNo slides. The room votes.
● Per team2-5Devs, designers, business.
● Verticals12EDU, Maker, Health, FinTech & more.
The format
A company in a weekend - or the truth in one.
01 Friday - pitchSixty seconds, your idea.No slides. The best ideas recruit their teams tonight.
02 Saturday - buildCustomer development.Mentors circling, an MVP by midnight.
03 Sunday - demoFinal pitches to real judges.Validated learning, not theatre.
04 Monday - continueWalk through the door.Founders Coffee, the Intensive, the ecosystem.
Hour by hour
The 54 hours, as they run.
Fri18:00
Registration & a welcome dinnerName tags, a room of strangers, the first coffee.
Fri19:00
Keynote & the rules of the weekendWhat 54 hours can and cannot do. Then the floor is yours.
Fri20:00
60-second pitches, then the voteAnyone may pitch. The room votes. The top ideas recruit their teams tonight.
Sat09:00
Yoga & meditation, then breakfastFifteen minutes of breathing before a day of customer development.
Sat10:00
Workshops, custdev, mentors circlingTalk to real customers. Kill the idea or sharpen it. An MVP by midnight.
Sun12:00
Pitch practice with the facilitatorFive minutes, three questions from the jury. Rehearse until it lands.
Sun18:00
Final pitches to the juryValidated learning, not theatre. Investors, operators, a corporate or two.
Sun21:00
Winners - and what happens MondayPrizes, photos, and a door into Founders Coffee, the Intensive and the rest of the ecosystem.
Why it matters
Give us a weekend. Leave with a company.
We have hosted Moscow’s weekends behind the yellow door for years; alumni feed straight into the Intensive.
“Friday I had a slide. Sunday I had a team, a prototype and our first three user interviews.
- A weekend alum
Past editions
Four weekends, one lockdown.
Nov 2018 · Moscow · the firstSustainability edition, behind the yellow door.Nine to eleven November, 2018. The first Startup Weekend in Moscow, with a sustainability focus: practices, technologies and ideas that raise the quality of life in the city.
Jun 2019 · Moscow · EY officesDigi.gift won. Forest Vision second, Data Gallery third.Fourteen to sixteen June, 2019, hosted at EY. The top three earned a fast track to the Sevan Startup Summit in Armenia. Jury from Runa Capital, Legiorant, PwC.
Nov 2019 · Moscow · second autumnWinners went straight into the Insiders Intensive.Twenty-nine November to one December, 2019. The prize was our four-week Silicon Valley Insiders intensive - the launch pad for startups going global.
Apr 2020 · All of Russia · onlineUnite to fight COVID-19. One country, one team.Twenty-four to twenty-six April, 2020. When the world locked down we moved the weekend online in a week, with Google for Startups. Teams from across the country.
Google for StartupsTechstarsEYMTS Startup HubRosbankCBSD ThunderbirdThe Untitled VenturesSeaside Startup Summit
Find your team behind the door.
Teams form on the spot. Bring a laptop; you must be able to attend Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
All programsMembers attend free · give first
