Azerbaijani startups attracted over €2M in investment in 3 years

Between 2022 and 2024, Azerbaijani startups attracted more than 2.4 million euros in investment from various global investors and organizations, Farid Osmanov, Chairman of the Board of the Innovation and Digital Development Agency, said at the final event of the Innostart project held in Baku, Report informs.

"This is both an indicator of confidence in our country's innovation potential and a real result of the initiatives we have implemented. In recent years, purposeful and systematic steps have been taken to strengthen the startup ecosystem in Azerbaijan. As an agency that unites the ecosystem under one umbrella, we have already achieved concrete results through programs implemented jointly with local and international partners," he noted.

Osmanov noted that the agency has been actively working for several years to organize incubation and acceleration programs in the country: "This year, we have launched two important acceleration programs. One of them is the '4+1 ClimAccelerator' program implemented jointly with Sabancı ARF and Viveka. The program aims to promote climate innovations and create a cooperation platform among regional countries. The results are quite impressive: more than 150 applications from 14 countries have been received, 56 startups have been adapted to the B2B format, and 10 startups have been presented within the framework of COP29. At the closing ceremony held in Istanbul, a local startup called AZIRRIGATION was awarded a grant of 50,000 euros.

The other initiative is an international acceleration program focused on 'SaaS', conducted together with the Startup Wise Guys accelerator. Our goal is to strengthen the global market access and competitiveness of local startups operating in this field. At the same time, we provide support for startups to be recognized not only within the country but also in the international arena. Within the framework of the 'Roadshow' project, various startups have been enabled to participate in international events, creating opportunities for networking and establishing connections with investors."