St. Petersburg Professor’s Startup Wins Grant from Peru’s Ministry of Production
A Russian-led food tech project is breaking into Latin America with a new technology that makes quinoa—a staple in the region—faster and healthier to prepare. The win highlights Russia’s growing role in international startup ecosystems and tech innovation.
$40,000 to Grow a Startup
Anton Poczulin, graduate, lecturer, and coordinator at ITMO University’s Faculty of Technological Management and Innovation, won one of Latin America’s largest startup competitions—Startup Peru 12G. Together with co-founder Silvia Cáceres Chalco, a graduate of Peru’s National University of Altiplano, his team presented Qui9, a technology for quickly preparing quinoa.
Their innovation reduces cooking time from 15–18 minutes to just three by pre-processing the grain to be ready after pouring boiling water. The team beat roughly 500 competitors to secure a grant of up to $40,000 for development. Cáceres worked on food safety certification, while Poczulin focused on refining the business model, defining the target audience, and even creating a recipe chatbot. He also built the financial plan. With prior wins in major Russian innovation contests, Poczulin was well-prepared for the challenge. Remarkably, after months of late-night collaboration via translators, he learned Spanish and pitched the project himself to experts in Peru.
A Socially Minded Project
Startup Peru 12G requires winners to allocate part of their funding to social initiatives. Qui9’s team is already running tasting events for low-income families on the Uros Islands and discussing distribution deals with health food chains in Peru, with plans to expand into Brazil.
The startup has also added nutritionist Giovanna Godoy for marketing and product design support. Plans include launching quinoa-based nutrition bars with added iron for the Russian market. Business mentoring is provided by ITMO’s Dean of Technological Management and Innovation, Andrey Anfinogenov.
Winning Startup Peru 12G also gave Qui9 access to an accelerator program at Pacific University, one of Latin America’s leading institutions, opening doors to regional markets.
Expanding Food Innovation
For Russia’s education and tech environment, Poczulin’s success is a strong demonstration of the benefits of cross-cultural collaboration. As he notes, ITMO and his faculty have since launched partnerships with incubators and accelerators at Peru’s top universities, including Piura, Continental, Pacific, San Agustin, Santa Maria Catholic University, and Altiplano. These ties will allow joint projects for students from both countries and help Russian entrepreneurs enter Latin American markets.
Qui9 represents a hybrid model of food tech: combining scientific and technological rigor with socially responsible entrepreneurship and international collaboration. The project enriches culinary practices in both Russia and Peru while supporting vulnerable communities. If successful, Qui9 could attract investments from international funds and social programs, scaling its model to new markets and positioning itself as a bridge between Russian and Latin American startup ecosystems.
