Startup launch in Armenia - discover Yerevan for yourself

In previous articles, I talked about real practices in the field of IT in Armenia, as well as about the level of average salaries of IT specialists in this country. Today I want to introduce the distinguished audience to important events and events, as well as the organizations of Yerevan, which will help to establish their own startup in the capital of the South Caucasus state.



This article provides a complete guide to starting a business in the capital of Armenia, Yerevan, with recommendations by advice.



And I’ll start, perhaps, from the main point - the key advantages of opening startups in a technologically developed country. Among them:

• the heritage of the Silicon Valley of the former Soviet Union, a very strong engineering program and relations with technical giants around the world - all this contributes to the creation of a qualified personnel reserve in Yerevan;
• with average prices for a modern two-room apartment in the center of Yerevan (about 400 EUR) and low labor costs, Yerevan is one of the cheapest cities in Europe where you can live and start a business;
• recent success stories of startups and the growing number of international companies opening branches in Yerevan have attracted Venture Capital and world-class accelerators;
• Yerevan’s recently refurbished ultramodern airport is clean, closed and very convenient for business trips (flights from European company Ryanair are launched from January 2020);
• Thanks to online business registration, e-government, taxation and accounting methods, Armenia is among the best places in Europe to start a business;
• all of Yerevan and most of Armenia are provided with high-speed wired Internet;
• developed cultural and social infrastructure.

Let's be honest - in Armenia there are some nuances that the founders of a new company should take into account, including a startup. Namely:

• although Paypal serves Armenia, it is still difficult for companies registered in Armenia to accept payments in this system;
• Transferwise is still working to serve Armenia;
• the banking system in Armenia uses the SWIFT code, but banks are extremely reliable and safe;
• August is a very hot and dry month;
• changing laws regarding startups and cumbersome paperwork means you need a good accountant, preferably a local professional;
• primitive public transportation in Yerevan and between cities may be confusing at first, but the metro is very fast, cheap, clean and comfortable.
• although the relatively new type of start-up in Yerevan may seem exciting to the creators, in search of sponsors will have to prove the feasibility of the initiative - as they say, a matter of taste.

Yerevan is served by a growing startup community, which is actively developing and connecting the founders. A series of recent international successes of Armenian startups has inspired a new generation of local entrepreneurs, who along the way join the ranks of this community. The growing direction is also actively supported by the growing ecosystem. Incubators, places for collaboration and meetings for startups allow entrepreneurs, technicians, marketers and enthusiasts to communicate, discuss developments in this area and much more. It should be noted that venture funds that are also growing and gaining momentum in order to support this community in Armenia are not far behind.



Now let's turn to important exhibitions, conferences and other events that help startups to unite in one community and find support.

Major events, festivals, meetings, sources for finding information about them

As in other countries with a highly developed technological base, various events are regularly held in Yerevan aimed at creating one ecosystem with the maximum support of new entrepreneurs, founders of startups. Information on current and future events in Armenia can be found using the following sources:

• Techtension.am is an English-language technical blog and media platform that regularly covers startups in Armenia, offers detailed comments, and also announces major thematic meetings and events.
• ITEL.am is a part of MediaMax group that monitors the development of Armenian technologies in English and Armenian.

For the convenience of readers, I also collected information about regularly held events in Armenia that help generate ideas, develop startups, share experiences and make recommendations. Among them:

• HyeTech (the “high-tech” double of the Armenian endonym) organizes regular events and meetings for Armenian technology professionals in Armenia and around the world.
• The meeting of Armenian developers is a group of Armenian programmers who regularly organize social and professional events.
• TEDxYerevan - gathers about 300 people every year to exchange experiences. TED licensed events are organized by volunteers on their own, in the hope that they will become a local forum for ideas in the Armenian community. In addition to the regular annual TEDx event, side events are organized throughout the year.
• ProductTank Yerevan is a regular, independently organized meeting for Armenian managers on specific products.
• Create Together - a kind of hackathon / Tech Meetup, gathering Armenian technicians from Armenia and the diaspora.

Annual or major events, festivals, conferences:

• BarCamp EVN is an annual technical conference (or “non-conference”, as the Armenians call it), which is held in Yerevan and other cities of Armenia. All presentations, modeled on informal technical communities in the style of Silicon Valley, are conducted by the participants themselves, without any invited speakers and without a traditional conference.
• SeedStars Yerevan is an annual startup competition, the winners of which participate in the Worldwide Competition.
• • STEP: Idea-to-Market is an annual competition for beginners to create commercially viable startups. Winning teams receive seed funding.
• Yerevan Startup Cup is another annual startup contest with mentoring and prizes for the winners.
• Open Game is a project aimed at developing games in Armenia.
• HyeTech is a collection of Armenian professionals who share technical, business and entrepreneurial knowledge, which makes Armenia a unique place for work and life.
• DIGITEC Expo is an annual exposition of robotic and technology companies based in Armenia.

Impact Hub Yerevan, a community of volunteers, is also present here. The team offers internships to people interested in a technology startup in the state.

Collaboration Companies in Yerevan

We decided on the events of Yerevan and other Armenian cities, now I want to pay attention to the concept of joint work, which appeared relatively recently in the capital of Armenia, but quickly became popular due to the efficiency, time and cost savings of various startup founders. So, new startups can take advantage of the following workrooms with the necessary infrastructure:

• UtopianLab is an affordable place in the center of the Armenian capital. Despite its minimalist décor, its regulars consider it a second home. They offer affordable prices;
• LOFT, which, despite its name, is located in the basement in the city center, has a number of well-equipped rooms with a friendly team for productive work;
• Collaboration with Aeon is a community consisting of visionary, innovative freelancers, colleagues and startup professionals, giving them the opportunity to work not only independently, but also online. This anti-cafe does not offer membership, the space can be freely used, enough to pay for hours of work;
• PMC is a shared workspace that offers collaboration between an office, private offices, and meeting rooms. Participants can also book rooms for events;
• Impact Hub Yerevan is a common community that includes an inspiring workspace, laboratory, business incubator, community center for social enterprises, educational opportunities, as well as a global network of like-minded people, rather than simple collaboration. Membership operates in 81 hubs worldwide.

Where to find financing in Yerevan?

Starting a startup in Yerevan is actually quite cheap, with more cash being needed. Although one of the biggest complaints about startups in Yerevan is the relatively modest activity of venture capitalists, and its own ecosystem in Armenia is still in its infancy, good ideas with proven potential for scalability and a strong team can always find funding. In recent years, several incubators, accelerators, venture funds and other institutions have appeared around Yerevan to support Armenian startups.



Incubators:

• The Center for Entrepreneurship and Product Innovation (EPIC), part of the American University of Armenia, is a platform for promoting entrepreneurial education, interdisciplinary cooperation and startup incubation at AUA.
• The Enterprise Incubator Foundation (EIF) is one of the largest technology business incubators and consulting companies in the region, which supports the development of the information and communication technology sector in Armenia by creating an industrial environment for innovation, technological progress and company growth.
• Kolba Lab is a social venture incubator funded by the UN development program, a space for identifying social problems, testing ideas and developing enterprises, as well as a community of extraordinary thinkers and technicians.
• Mergelyan Club organizes meetings with young researchers, scientists and technicians in the form of project presentations, discussions, round tables. Mergelyan Club also supports startups and entrepreneurs with bright ideas.
• The Foundation for Education and New Technologies is a charitable foundation that promotes the development, interconnection of science, new technologies and education, and also works at the junction of the above target areas.

Accelerators:

• The IBM Center for Innovative Solutions and Technologies (ISTC) provides consultancy, infrastructure and resources for creating innovative products and services, and creating new and viable IT startups;
• Microsoft's Innovation Center Armenia’s startup acceleration program is designed to help start-ups get their ideas across the world and enter the market;
• The Armenian-Indian Center of Excellence in ICT provides training in the field of information technology and research, development work in a modern laboratory that provides the necessary software.

Grants and subventions:

• Awesome Foundation in Yerevan is part of a global community promoting technology in the world, a grant of $ 1,000;
• STEP grant “From idea to market” is an annual competition held by EIF in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy of Armenia and the World Bank, where the best startups compete for initial financing in the form of a grant;
• 1Armenia is a fund that invests in cultural and technical projects. There is also an annual technical competition, which provides funding and mentoring for a winning technical concept.

Crowdinvesting platforms and angel investors:

• Ayo - Armenian crowdfunding platform for technical and non-technical projects, both private and non-commercial, throughout the country;
• 1Armenia regularly conducts fundraising to raise funds for technical projects;
• BoostBloom is an Armenian crowdfunding platform for technical and cultural projects;
• Katil.am is intended to finance business projects that create jobs in Armenia;
• Angello Capital is a group of highly motivated professionals in the field of investment and business who also have invaluable experience working with civil society projects and are deeply concerned with social transformations.

Venture Investors:

1. Roda Group, an entry-level venture capital firm based in Berkeley, California, specializes in Armenian and other startups.
2. The HIVE Foundation invests in startups around the world and collaborates with them in the early stages, from Silicon Valley to Armenia.
3. StartItUp helps bright people stand out from the crowd with their creative ideas. It provides financing, networking and marketing.
4. Granatus Ventures is the first venture capital fund in Armenia. He has already invested in successful Armenian startups such as GG taxi, Menu.am, SkyCryptor, Wicastr, NewsDeeply and others.

Sources of financing continue to grow in tandem with the developing Armenian startup system, as new accelerators, venture investors and angels appear to help new Armenian start-ups. As the saying goes, a viable startup can always find funding. But this is not all - the opportunities of businessmen in Armenia are expanding even more with the help of the resources of state bodies.

Where to look for additional opportunities and tips in Yerevan?

Although Armenia is quickly building up a reputation as a country with the fastest and easiest start of a business, this was partly possible thanks to lobbying work done by independent resources of the Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE).

Entrepreneurs, startup founders and investors can always use the significant resources of the National Center for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises of Armenia.

The country also greatly facilitates the process of doing business through improved e-government programs. Entrepreneurs can now register a business online in less than 24 hours. All tax and accounting issues can be resolved online, and specialized organizations can provide additional legal assistance in starting or running a business in Armenia.



By the way, local residents are very proud of the “Made in Armenia” brand. Therefore, startups and technology companies with more than 50% of the code written in Armenian can be found in the list madeinarmenia.org . The Armenian start-up community can count on the help of a number of technical heavyweights, such as Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanyan, who offers mentoring and tips for newly created startups.



And finally, one cannot but say about the innovation in the tax legislation of Armenia - if a non-resident or resident company consists of a team of up to 30 or less than 30 people, it is taxed at a reduced rate of 10% for commercial activities, 0% for startups. This innovation has already led to a real “explosion” in the field of information technology - since the adoption of the law (May 18, 2019), several repatriates have already returned to their historical homeland from France, California, the Netherlands and at this stage they are creating a team for their own new startups. The main condition for the preferential rate remains the number of employees and the process of creating a business - a startup should not be a product of the reorganization of another business.