The world → Russia - the global founder community, hosted here
Global community · Moscow & St. Petersburg chapters● World → Russia
Startup Grind
We run the Moscow & St. Petersburg chapters of Startup Grind - founded in Silicon Valley in 2010 by Derek Andersen, now 600 cities across 125 countries reaching 3.5M+ people - bringing its fireside format behind the yellow door. Its values are house rules here too: help others before you help yourself, give first, make friends - not contacts.
At a glance.
Monthly · themed seasons● Community
3.5M+
Reached worldwide - 600 cities, 125 countries; the Moscow chapter is ours.
● Pitch Battle
Sept
Local battles Sept 15-19 → industry semis Sept 22 → top 3 pitch live to Silicon Valley VCs Sept 25.
● Conference
×4
Startup tickets, a dedicated exhibition tent, 1-minute quickfire pitches & custom signage at SG Global.
A season, not a single fireside.
01
The fireside
A founder or investor who actually did the thing, interviewed unguarded - failures first.
02
Themed months
Startup Olympics in September, AI Month in October, Global Pitch Battle in February, SG Women’s Month in March.
03
The Pitch Battle
One minute, one slide, chapter winner → semis by industry → the global final in front of SV VCs.
04
The hallway
The introductions afterward are the actual point - and the door to the rest of our ecosystem.
§ Why it matters
Belong before you break through.
Building is lonely on the frontier. Startup Grind is where founders find their people - the community & candour that make the long road survivable. The chapter opens with Founders Coffee at FINE and the VLAB series at Noodome; chapter winners earn Startup of the Year and automatic entry to the Global Pitch Battle.
● From an alum
“It is the one evening a month where I remember I am not doing this alone.”
- A chapter regular
● Directed by Val Jerdes · startupgrind.com · Moscow & St. Petersburg
Find your people behind the door.
Founders and operators, plus the startup-curious. Members attend free - give first.