In Russia, there is a fairly wide pool of financial support instruments, grants, competitions, and compensations. I often notice that startups choose an instrument that is not optimal for the current TRL stage or company development phase. And an incorrectly chosen support instrument can greatly slow down the development processes of your project.

For example, in my accelerator, there was a startup that was afraid to go for the "serious" programs of the Bortnik Foundation and instead applied for the FSI program - "Umnik", rather than "Start-1" or "Student Startup". They requested only 500 thousand rubles (the maximum amount in this competition), although in the other two they could have expected from 1 to 4 million. At the same time, they had all the conditions to win in any of the three, given the support of our accelerator and industrial partner, letters of support, etc. Moreover, the startup had already developed a prototype and needed to certify it, and then develop small-scale production. They got the grant. But in the end, the money was only enough to slightly refine the prototype, and the next grant from FSI can only be obtained after a year. The project stalled for almost 6 months waiting for the next competition and development grant.

For those who want to choose thoughtfully, I have compiled two small infographics. The first (diagram) is a representation where the further left and higher the instrument is, the easier it is to obtain and the fewer obligations you take on. Optimally, in my opinion, you should go through the blue column before moving to the other two. The second infographic is a matrix where you should look at the instruments relative to the TRL level, and of course, based on your product and request.