Zumers in Russia became more interested in opening their own business

The number of Gen Z Russians interested in entrepreneurship support programs in September 2026 increased by 24% compared to May. This is evidenced by the results of a joint study of MegaFon and the Innovation Promotion Fund (RBC has).

The study is based on the analysis of anonymized data of the operator on visits to resources dedicated to business development grants, benefits and educational programs for startups. The sample included users under 25 years of age.

Generation Z is a term used to describe people born in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Some researchers call the range from 1997 to 2012, although specific time limits remain a controversial topic. Generation Z follows Generation Y, or Millennials.

Most often, opportunities for starting a business are interested in large agglomerations. The top 10 regions included Moscow and Moscow Region, Krasnodar Territory, St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region, Rostov Region, Tatarstan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Bashkiria, Stavropol Territory, Dagestan and Kemerovo Region. At the same time, among visitors to sites devoted to state grants and technological development programs, female zoomers prevail. According to the study, they account for more than 82% of thematic traffic.

The most popular resource among young users was the portal of the Foundation for the Promotion of Innovation (fasie.ru), which accounted for 33% of visits to sites of this topic. The second place was taken by the platform of the SME Corporation (corpmsp.ru) with a share of 23%, the third – the portal “My Business” (my business.rf) with 22%.

Another 14% of traffic accounted for the sites of urban entrepreneurship development centers and specialized business accelerators, 8% - for regional microfinance and property support programs.

According to the Innovation Promotion Foundation, 92% of grant applications for youth technology entrepreneurship programs are submitted by participants born in 2000 and later.

In 2026, the winners of the Student Startup contest were 2,250 people, each of whom received a grant of 1 million rubles. Among the winners, 87% are Generation Z, and 14% are under 20.

Most of the supported projects are related to digital and manufacturing technologies, as well as the development of new appliances. Digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, have become the most popular direction among young entrepreneurs. The top three also included biotechnology and creative industries.

Sergey Kulichenko, Director of the sales and implementation of digital solutions at MegaFon, noted that young entrepreneurs from the very beginning consider business as a technological project and actively use digital tools to attract customers, organize sales and automate processes.

Varvara Dubovitskaya, head of special projects and creative media at Sberbank, said earlier that it is important for large companies to give young employees the opportunity to make decisions and make mistakes without limiting their initiative.