Microsoft Innovation Center Armenia attracts $1 million of venture investment in 18 months

YEREVAN, November 7. / ARKA /. Microsoft Innovation Center Armenia has attracted $1 million of venture investment in the last 18 months, Bagrat Yengibaryan, the head of  the "Enterprise Incubator Foundation" (EIF), said today.

According to him, in addition to foreign investments from Swiss Seedstarst, there are also Armenian investments from Granatus Ventures and Hovnanian Foundation, which provide assistance to Armenian IT companies worldwide.

"We have much to do in this direction. What is important is that Armenian start-up companies could prove they are competitive and interesting for venture funds and international investors,” said Yengibaryan.

According to him, Armenia is entering a new stage of ICT development by shifting from order fulfillment and use of cheap labor force to offering solutions and products.

"It is also important that Armenian ICT products are demanded by well-known companies, which also set up their own research and development centers here," he said.

As an example he pointed out the Oracle Company that has acquired an Armenian start-up. He said the Armenian PicsArt company is among the 20 best top IT companies in the world.

Armenia’s IT sector expands 20-25% a year. Its share in the national GDP is 3.8%. Last year this sector grew by 22% with annual turnover of $380 million. According to a government designed IT development strategy, this figure is to surge to $1 billion in 4 years. -0--

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18:47 11/07/2014