Azerbaijan Bets Big On Growing Local Startup Ecosystem In Central Asia

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 29.​ Startups operating in Azerbaijan will have expanded opportunities to operate in Central Asia, Chairman of the Board of the Azerbaijan Innovation Development Agency, Farid Osmanov told media, Trend reports.

"As the Innovation and Regional Development Agency, we have implemented continuous measures to build an innovation ecosystem in our country, form knowledgeable and skilled human capital in this direction, create an appropriate startup ecosystem, and develop startups both in the domestic market and in access to foreign markets," he explained.

The official said that as a continuation of these events, one of the important elements of the innovation ecosystem is increasing access to financial instruments.

"In this direction, we, as the agency, are cooperating with two funds and have begun the process of establishing a third fund within the framework of today's event. We are already completing negotiations on cooperation with the Vital Capital Venture Fund. Work on the establishment of the relevant fund has reached the final stage.

The Vital Capital Fund is one of the largest venture funds in Central Asia, and through this fund, the startup ecosystem that is being formed in our country will be provided with more convenient access to financial resources.

At the same time, the opportunities for startups operating in our country will expand not only within the country but also in Central Asia and other regions. We feel that the work done in this direction will be very beneficial for our startups. The capital of the fund will be financed by the Agency at the initial stage. It's planned to allocate $1 million in the first stage and negotiations in this direction are ongoing," he added.

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