By Mike Cassidy
Plenty of places have tried to put the Silicon stamp on themselves — Silicon Glen in Scotland, Silicon Beach in Australia, Silicon Sentier in France, Silicon Oasis in Dubai — with varying success. But none has achieved the notoriety of Silicon Valley.
But Skolkovo might benefit from a growing Russia buzz in the valley. There’s the foundation’s Sand Hill Road office, which Skolkovo will share with a Russian government-backed venture fund and a Russian government-backed investment firm promoting nanotechnology. Then there’s President Medvedev’s tech tour of the valley last summer, during which he said he wanted to see for himself “the origins of success.” And Russian mogul Yuri Milner, who is looking to invest in valley startups, has famously purchased big chunks of Facebook and Zynga – and valley real estate, having just bought a Los Altos Hills home for something in the nine-figure range.
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