Plug and Play is already in Armenia: 10 Armenian startups will travel to Silicon Valley

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YEREVAN, November 1. /ARKA/. The internationally renowned innovation platform and startup accelerator Plug and Play Germany GmbH has launched its acceleration program in Armenia for the first time./pp

The agreement for the implementation of the program between the Ministry of High-Tech Industry of Armenia and Plug and Play, selected as a result of a competition, was concluded on August 15, 2024. Some 336 million drams were allocated for conducting the competition./pp

The platform will provide technological startups with consulting services, assistance in business development and networking, as well as personalized mentorship. Out of 119 startups, 20 were selected to participate in the program. br br iWhy is this important?/i br br

The goal of the program is to bring an international accelerator to Armenia to help Armenian startups enter the international market, gain new knowledge, improve their products, and understand how international companies operate, and become 'champions' in the world, said Deputy Minister of High-Tech Industry Ruben Simonyan./pp

According to him, the ministry expects that the selected startups will become known in the international market. br Ten of these startups will head to Silicon Valley in November. This opens up great opportunities for them. This will also provide an opportunity to establish new connections, present their products, brand Armenia and Armenian teams, said Simonyan./pp

He noted that the program will be long-term, and at present, a pilot version is being implemented. One of the goals of the program is to help turn Armenia into a technology hub, develop an innovative ecosystem and economy. br The Deputy Minister had difficulty answering a question from ARKA news agency about whether there was any statistics on how many startups are created annually in Armenia and how many of them succeed./pp

We collect data from different years about the startups that participated in our programs to understand who has succeeded, said Simonyan. br br

Pilug and Play sees potential in Armenia/i br br

Plug and Play Germany GmbH Executive Director Sascha Karimpour noted that he is very inspired by the initiative being implemented in Armenia to help entrepreneurs and startups reach an international level, as well as to help them establish connections with major corporations and investors./pp

In fact, it is the startups that are currently building the future of the country. Our credo is to bring innovation to anyone, anywhere, and help bring together startups, investors, entrepreneurs, universities, and large corporations, said Sascha Karimpour. He noted that Armenia is a promising location for Plug and Play./pp

We are one of the most active early-stage investors in the world. We invest in about 200 startups a year, and our portfolio includes around 2000 startups, 35 of which are unicorns. We always closely monitor new ecosystems, said Karimpoor. br He said that the company has 65 offices worldwide: in the USA, China, Central Asia, and Europe, and is opening an office in India./pp

We believe that there are excellent startups in Armenia and we hope for a long-term presence here. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet with some Armenian startups, and I am ready to immediately connect some of them with Mercedes and Bosch, as well as with our other partners, Karimpoor said in response to a question from ARKA about how he assesses the level of Armenian startups. br br iAbout Plug and Play/i br br

Plug and Play is an internationally renowned innovation platform and startup accelerator, with its headquarters located in Silicon Valley. It connects startups, corporations, and investors to encourage technological progress and business development./pp

Plug and Play cooperates with companies such as VISA, ROCHE, JAGUAR LAND ROVER, WALMART, Mercedes-Benz, VOLVO, PORSCHE, NISSAN. Its portfolio has contracts with more than 30 unicorn companies, including PayPal, Dropbox, Honey, SoundHound, Rappi, CourseHero, Pinterest, Pony.ai, and others.-0-/pp nbsp;/pp br br/p