OREANDA-NEWS  The total revenue of Russian IT startups (about 4,000 companies) increased by 39% in 2024 to about 300 billion rubles, according to a study by DGCompass IT holding T1.

"The startup market is growing at the expense of certain industries where solutions based on modern technologies are already being created and implemented," said Kirill Bulgakov, Deputy CEO of T1 and Managing Director of NOTA (part of the holding company). "In other areas, startups are still focused on refining products launched before 2022."

According to the researchers, in 2024, not only revenue, but also net profit increased by 26.5%, to 35 billion rubles. As a startup ages, its marginality decreases dramatically. So, for startups at the age of one year, the average margin is about 30%. In the future, this indicator decreases to about 6% (4-5 years).

The top 6 industries in terms of average startup revenue include information security (134 million rubles), business software (129 million rubles), insurance (126 million rubles), financial services (125 million rubles), advertising and marketing (121 million rubles), education (109 million rubles).

"Business software, industry, and healthcare are the leading industries in terms of the number of startups (they account for 20%, 13%, and 12% of the total number of startups, respectively)," the study says. "They are most popular due to the emergence and implementation of new technologies (artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, etc.) and reduced competition in the market."

In the business software segment, researchers counted 587 startups, with total revenue of 76.1 billion rubles in 2024. For 22.6% of startups from this segment, revenue decreased in 2024, while for 18.4% it turned out to be zero. In general, the success rate (revenue increased compared to 2023, net profit is positive) of startups in this segment ranges from 40-60%.

Just over 50% of these companies are developing solutions for automation and digitalization of business processes (20% of the total number of startups operating in this segment), various information systems (including ERP and CRM - 14%), AI services and systems (9%), visualization and data analysis (8%).

"About 14% of startups (from the ERP and CRM niche) create highly specialized platforms for automating management in specific industries (retail, construction, logistics)," the study says. - Revenue growth in this segment is 43%."

The researchers also note that in the niche of solutions for automation and digitalization of business processes, 20% of industry startups develop solutions for automating routine operations using AI and machine learning technologies. Revenue growth here was 63%.

"Data visualization and analysis is one of the most popular niches for startups in the field of business software," the researchers believe. - About 8% of startups specialize in processing both structured and unstructured data. Revenue in this niche increased by 33% in 2024."

There are 373 startups in the industry segment with revenue of 28.7 billion rubles. Here, more than 26% of companies showed a decrease in revenue in 2024, and 32.4% ended up with zero revenue. Accordingly, the success rate of startups (with the exception of niches, automation and digitalization of production - 59%, additive technologies - 67%) ranges on average at the level of 30-40%.

"Revenue growth in this segment in 2024 was 14%, which is 33% lower than the average across all industries," the study notes. "The return on sales for 2024 was 17%."

At the same time, experts note that about 4% of startups (solutions for 3D printing and the creation of new materials) work in the additive manufacturing niche. Their revenue increased by 150% in 2024. It also indicates revenue growth of 24% in the niche of machine tools and processing equipment. About 3% of startups here are engaged in the development of high-precision machines and equipment for processing metals, plastics and other materials.

According to the researchers, there are 334 startups in the healthcare segment with a total revenue of 16.12 billion rubles in 2024. According to the results of last year, 25.7% of them indicated a decrease in revenue, and 43% ended the year with zero. Accordingly, the average success rate of startups in this segment is 20-30%.

"About 8% of startups are working on automating medical processes, including the development of information systems for clinics, digital platforms for managing patient data, and integration solutions for laboratories," the study says. "Revenue in this niche grew by 43% in 2024, with a number of projects demonstrating high return on sales."

The researchers also noted high revenue growth in the psychological support niche, which employs about 9% of the segment's startups. They develop solutions for online counseling with psychologists, mobile stress management applications, and specialist recruitment platforms. Revenue from this niche increased by 34% in 2024.

In the information security segment, experts counted 78 startups, whose total revenue last year amounted to 11 billion rubles. In this segment, 24.1% of startups reported a decrease in revenue last year and the same number reported zero revenue. At the same time, the success rate of startups varies greatly depending on the niche - from 0% in the niche of detecting and preventing deepfakes and 17% in the niche of customized development in the field of cybersecurity to 100% in simulating cyber attacks and training in countermeasures.

"Cybersecurity startups showed revenue growth of 49% in 2024, which is only 2% more than the average across all industries," the study says. "The industry is among the top 3 in terms of return on sales for 2024, which was 37%, which is 28% higher than the average for all the industries studied."

The DGCompass study covers more than 4,000 Russian startups from the base of the Moscow Innovation Agency, engaged in the development of IT solutions and technologies for 32 industries. At the same time, researchers refer to start-ups as companies no older than five years old, with up to 150 employees, a market value of no more than 25 billion rubles and a total revenue of no more than 2.5 billion rubles for a specific project in 2024.

One of the results was the creation of a Gartner quadrant (Magic Quadrant - graphical representation of the market situation) with four fields: "Glade of unicorns" (high financial and technological performance), "Truffle forest" (stable profitability, but low innovation, "Volcano of technology" (technologically promising, but requiring investment) and "Desert" (low profitability and poor technological efficiency).