Closing Ceremony Takes Place for the Esteemed International Accelerator Program

On February 22, the solemn closing ceremony of the program was held, that had launched since October of last year by the Ministry of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia and the renowned international accelerator “Plug and Play.”

During the event, the Minister of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, welcomed the attendees and emphasized the importance of the program for the development of the Armenian startup ecosystem. He noted that due to the program the Armenian companies received high-quality mentoring, investment opportunities, and access to global markets.

"We have witnessed how the mentors and the Plug and Play team worked with the startups involved in the program, performing daily targeted work and laying a path to new opportunities,” noted Minister Hayrapetyan, adding that this is a solid basis for discussing further cooperation prospects.

Highlighting innovation and the development of a high-tech ecosystem as the driving force behind the progress of the Armenian economy, the Minister noted: “Our time, resources and energy are limited, so we must direct them to our strategic priority, which is to make Armenia an international technological and innovative center,” concluded the Minister, congratulating the startups participating in the program and thanking the Plug and Play team for their effective work.

Sascha Karimpour, CEO of Plug and Play Germany GmbH also came up with welcoming remarks. Referring to the startups involved in the program, he emphasized that Armenia’s technology ecosystem is in excellent shape, as the founders of the startups have innovative thinking and a bold vision.

The event was attended by EU Ambassador to Armenia Vassilis Maragos, as well as the Deputy Ambassadors of Japan and China, representatives of the US Embassy, high-ranking officials and other representatives of the industry.

Following this, the startups involved in the program presented their activities, after which a panel discussion took place themed “Fostering Innovation Ecosystems.”

Among 119 startups applying for participation in the program, 20 were included: Tactun, Kerpak, The Fintch, EdMap, Prodmap, Doctor Yan, Biocentric, Wearify, Hirebee, Zegashop, Moby, Sestive, Hoviv, FiveBrane, Text'nPayMe, Doccy, CaseLens, doodooc, Drawstory, Pearch AI startups, to which "Plug and Play" provided consulting services, business development and networking assistance, innovation support, and individual mentoring.

Among the participants seven companies, such as representatives of the startups Doccy, Biocentric ai, Tactun, Moby, Zegashop, Prodmap ai, Perch ai, participated in the Plug and Play Silicon Valley Winter Summit 2024 on November 19-21. This was a great opportunity for them to represent Armenia, establish connections, and brand their teams and products on international platforms. During the 3 days of the conference, more than 75 speakers from world-renowned companies gave lectures on various topics in different directions of the technology sector. The represented Armenian startups presented their products at the Winter Summit 2024. As a result, several agreements were reached with investors on further cooperation.

The contract for the implementation of the project between the Ministry of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia and the Plug and Play Germany GmbH, was signed on August 15, 2024. The budget for the competition is AMD 336,000,000 (three hundred thirty-six million).