On February 19, 2018 Armenia Startup Academy launched the second cycle of its 12-week pre-acceleration program. 17 startups have been selected.

The program is designed to guide tech companies/teams through the process of customer development using advanced tracking methodologies and instruments. This includes active and continuous process of hypotheses verification in the market. Upon graduation, the teams will have practical understanding of market context for their products and practical steps for the next 6 months. The program provides weekly lectures/workshops, guest-speaker talks, milestone setting, and weekly evaluation. The teams that do not work hard enough will leave the track.

The program has two levels of engagement: Participant and Listener. Whereas participants go through a methodical customer development tracking along with participating in lectures, talks and workshops, the listeners engagement is more flexible and without mandatory tracking program.

Back on February 3, Armenia Startup Academy held the demo day of the first batch of the startups, which convened startup ecosystem stakeholders to congratulate the graduates.

Meet the teams of our second batch:

Participants

• HelloSim – an international SIM card provider, which guarantees access to mobile and data roaming in more than 200 countries with cheapest prices.

• ReflectIn – an interactive mirror which analyzes the customer behavior meantime recommending complementary products for cross-selling.

• Cribby – a smart crib and nursing assistant for your newborn child with the ability to understand and transfer the needs of baby on distance.

• Holotec – an AR enabled game backed by blockchain technology which allows earning real world rewards and cryptocurrency while walking.

• ForgeFiction– a blockchain technology based platform which passes the process of book creation from individual’s hands to community, bringing the talent of masses into a single creation.

• AdvPortal – a web based open market place to choose a location and order ad poster and banner with just few clicks.

Listeners

• ForestBerg – a system designed to prevent unauthorized logging by detecting and locating chainsaw sound sources.

• Chessmood – is an online store for chess enthusiasts, created by chess trainer with 10 years of experience

• Brainee – a platform that analyzes and keeps track of user’s knowledge data and helps to promote their know-how while advising on how to stand out as an expert.

• Carddy – a business networking tool, which enables exchanging digital business cards with people around you.

• Cookmenu – an application, making cooking easier than ever: search and find recipes according to the content of fridge.

• ERP Smart System – a comprehensive ERP and CRM service implementation systems backed by team of technology experts.

• Growit – an AI enabled application forum which allows detecting the sickness of the plant by just taking a picture.

• LuMan – a Smart toy for kids, connected to mobile app, empowered by personalized educational program.

• Quest Tour – a game helping young people to discover countries and learn through the treasure-hunt game experience.

• Nairi Grigoryan – entrepreneur developing a platform for the infrequent wine drinkers, that finds themselves tarrying down the supermarket for the perfect wine.

• Io Cars – a kit which allows remote autostart of cars by using a mobile app.

About the Armenia Startup Academy

The Armenia Startup Academy is a Catalyst Foundation project implemented in the framework of EU4Business Support to SME Development (SMEDA) Project, which is co-funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by GIZ’s Private Sector Development in South Caucasus Program. SMEDA is part of the EU4Business and EU4Innovation initiatives of the European Union.