Seedstars Yerevan 2014 winner to take part in international contest in Geneva

YEREVAN, October 7. /ARKA/. The finalist of Seedstars Yerevan 2014 contest will take part in the international Seedstars in Geneva on February 4, 2015, Microsoft Innovation Center Director Arpine Zurfluh told journalists on Tuesday. 

This is the first Seedstars contest in Armenia. Some 35 startup companies raced for access to Geneva’s Seedstars, 16 of them reached the final round and only one will be chosen for the international contest. 

The jurors are considering business solutions, educational applications, B2B, B2C and several mobile games. 

Zurfluh said that 35 teams from many countries will compete in the international Seedstars, where the winner company will get a chance to attract investments totaling €100,000 to €500,000. 

She also said that regardless of the results of the contest, the most interesting projects will get an opportunity to take part in Microsoft Innovation Center’s acceleration programs. 

“We attach importance to support for startup companies in Armenia, since there are great possibilities given the strong education system,” she said. 

Zurfluh said that Armenian startup companies can work on particular problems and if they find successful solutions, they will get access to the world market and attract additional investments. 

Manuk Yerghnyan, managing partner of Granatus Ventures, an Armenian venture company, said Armenia’s high technology sector is shifting from fulfilling outside orders to creating its own products.  

“Armenia’s has great possibilities in this area, and we hope we’ll see interesting projects able to attract potential investors,” he said. 

The 20 winners of the 2013 Seedstars Yerevan contest have managed to attract venture investments totaling about $14 million for development of their projects. 

Seedstars Yerevan 2014 is organized by Microsoft Innovation Center, Seedstars World and TUMO Innovation Center for Creative Technologies under support from the Swiss embassy in Armenia, Azad Pharmaceutical and Ameria managing consulting service. --0---