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Wilhelm Hugo
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Rafayel Gevorgyan
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Wilhelm Hugo
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Andrej Bievetski
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Manana Melkonyan
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17:54 | 25.01.22 | Articles | exclusive 12618
Garage born SAP - a source of inspiration for the SAP Startup Factory by BANA
The recently opened Factory by BANA co-working space hosted the Demo Day of the SAP Startup Factory by BANA acceleration project.
The German software corporation SAP and the Business Angel Network of Armenia have announced about the establishment of the SAP Startup Factory by BANA in Armenia in June 2021.
The establishment of the SAP Startup Factory was made possible through the support of the EU4Business “Innovative Tourism and Technology Development for Armenia” (ITTD) project, implemented by GIZ and co-funded by the European Union and German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
During the 16-week project, 8 start-ups participating in the SAP Startup Factory had an opportunity to learn from the SAP specialists and international experts.
“We are happy to be part of this, since the cooperation is really very successful, and today we can see the effect of it. ITTD is a project, the activities of which are aimed at the development of tourism and technologies. We see a big potential in both of the mentioned fields in Armenia”, in his video message mentioned Frank Hess, the Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation to Armenia.
According to the EU4Business “Innovative Tourism and Technology Development for Armenia (ITTD)” project team leader Wilhelm Hugo, SAP Startup Factory has created a unique example of an innovation system in Armenia.
“In the world, we live in, the development of technologies creates opportunities. Of course, there are number of challenges, and it may take time, however, we have a chance to overcome the crisis and to develop further”, said Wilhelm Hugo.
Wilhelm Hugo
He has emphasized the importance of cooperation with the private sector within the frame of the project concerned as well as other initiatives.
“We want to increase job opportunities, to promote the cooperation and networks in Armenia and in the region as well as globally”.
The Deputy Minister of Economy of the Republic of Armenia, Rafayel Gevorgyan has also highlighted the importance of the dialogue between the private and public sectors.
Rafayel Gevorgyan
“From the RA Ministry of Economy perspective, such events and initiatives are highly important. We attach great importance also to the dialogue between the public and private sectors. We are listening to the concerns raised by the private sector representatives, and the government is trying to address them. Often, we are not able to tackle all the issues, but with the support of the GIZ and other partners we try to solve at least some of them”, mentioned the Deputy Minister.
“One of the major goals of this acceleration project was to provide the start-ups with an insight as to how to manage the business, what technologies to use” said Andrej Bievetski, the Director of SAP Labs CIS.
He recalled the history of establishment and development of SAP.
“SAP is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its founding this year. 50 years ago, it was a garage start-up founded in Meinheim by 5 engineers. It is hard to believe that 5 guys have founded a company, which has over 107 thousand employees today and is ranked as one of the most valuable German brands.
When looking back, we see that during the first 10 years following its founding the number of employees in SAP had increased only by 18. I am sharing this to make you realize that founding and developing a start-up is not an easy job, but technologies change the life of people for the better”.
Andrej Bievetski
SAP Startup Factory Programme Director Manana Melkonyan presented to the participants the activities carried out with start-ups.
“The main goal of the project was to bring them into compliance with SAP products and to promote at SAP store, which would provide an access to the market with more than 440,000 customers”.
Manana Melkonyan
She pointed out that the activities aimed at the development of the start-up market go beyond these efforts, and very soon the launching of a new project will be announced.
“The most inspiring news is that very soon a new regional project will kick-off. So, if you have a B2B start-up and if you are from the CIS, follow our official web-page and be ready to apply”, said the SAP Startup Factory Programme Director.
By the end of the event, the start-ups participating in the SAP Startup Factory by BANA acceleration project presented their ideas.
Yana Shakhramanyan
Photos by Emin Aristakesyan
