In the first year of operation, the SME.RF digital platform connected over 320 thousand registered Russian entrepreneurs, legal entities, self-employed individuals, and those planning to start ventures with its array of services. The platform saw more than 1.8 million interactions, illustrating strong engagement across the small and medium enterprise landscape.
User inquiries consistently focused on support programs, preferential rental options, and loan initiatives. On average, each platform registrant accessed its services more than five times, reflecting the platform’s role as a recurring touchpoint for business needs.
Highlights from senior leadership underscore the platform’s place within a national strategy to bolster small and medium enterprises. The platform is described as a federal project that forms a core component of a broader national program supporting SME growth, with the aim of enabling entrepreneurs to remotely access support measures and specialized services wherever they operate.
A key objective noted by leadership is to position the platform as not only a proactive business assistant but also a direct channel for entrepreneur feedback to government bodies. This feedback loop is intended to drive continuous improvement in public support mechanisms and service delivery.
Further comments from the Managing Director of SME Corporation emphasize the careful pre-launch phase, including close collaboration with entrepreneurs to identify priority digital services. This groundwork helped shape the platform’s offerings and ensure alignment with real market needs.
Regional support measures emerged as among the most requested services. To integrate these into SME.RF, the project connected the platform with more than 30 regional information systems, enabling regional authorities to place their support measures on the platform and process entrepreneur applications through personal accounts created for various regional subjects of the federation. The result is a streamlined flow from measure creation to application processing for users across different jurisdictions.
Today, the platform offers more than 300 digitized regional products and services, with ongoing efforts to simplify the process for obtaining support. This expansion demonstrates a commitment to broadening access and reducing friction for business owners seeking assistance across the regions.
The digital platform for small and medium-sized businesses was developed through a collaboration between the SME Company and the Ministry of Economic Development. It became available to users in February of the year it launched. The creation, evolution, and ongoing operation of the platform are overseen as part of a national program dedicated to supporting small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurial activity, with high-level oversight to ensure alignment with policy goals. The program leadership emphasizes sustained support for entrepreneurship nationwide and the integration of digital tools into public service delivery, reinforcing the platform’s role within the national innovation and business-support ecosystem.