Construction of the university began on 9 June 2012; in 2013, it was estimated that the university would be open by 2015.[8] Its first bachelor program opened in 2014. By the same year, partner universities included Carnegie Mellon University and the National University of Singapore. Innopolis University would sign academic agreements with the University of Bonn, Innsbruck University, Harbour.Space University and the Sapienza University of Rome in 2016. On 26 April 2019, ownership of the university was transferred to the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media.