Аннотация:High-tech startups provide organic implementation of technological innovations in the contemporary economics.Through startups entrepreneurial ecosystems are adapting to the changes caused by technological progress. For theRussian Federation startup activity has brought an important opportunity to reduce regional socio-economic disparitiesand negative effects of resource extraction dependency. The coronavirus pandemic has made the importance of startupactivity even more vital for future economic recovery.Spatial patterns of high-tech startups in Russia show a tendency for a significant concentration in particular regions. Theanalysis of entrepreneurial statistics for the last decade shows us that technological entrepreneurship is partially relatedon factors typical for the majority of SMEs (local market volume, purchasing power, characteristics of entrepreneurialecosystems) and partially for the high-tech economics (localization of other high-tech SMEs and special human capital).Some tendencies resemble more comprehensive specifics of Russian startups.The paper aims to study the aspects of regional differentiation of startup activity in Russia and reasons which haveformed its contemporary conditions. We use econometric analysis of quantity of new high-tech companies incombination with 22 statistical indicators representing different sides of regional socio-economic situation. It helps us toshed light on complex interrelationships among them and extinguish the factors of the most importance for the new hightech firms, which include levels of human capital development, ICT infrastructure availability majorly corresponding withthe phenomenon of “path dependence” of regional socio-economic development trajectories. Nevertheless, patentactivity and availability of banking support have turned less significant.According to the findings and the context of socio-economic disparities among Russian regions, we providerecommendations for the regional authorities in order to make the local conditions more suitable for technologicalentrepreneurs and increase the startup activity levels.