🚀 Alchemist Accelerator – Applications Due Soon!

Are you building the next big B2B startup? Alchemist Accelerator is now accepting applications for its next cohort!

Why Alchemist?
• A premier accelerator designed for enterprise startups
• Access to top investors, mentors, and corporate partners
• $450K investment and a powerful founder network

Application Deadline: March 21, 2025
📌 Apply Here: https://www.alchemistaccelerator.com/apply

#AlchemistAccelerator #B2BStartups #VentureFunding #FounderJourney

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🚀 Grants for alums of Armenia Startup Academy!

Applications are now open for the Idea Seed Stage Grant, exclusively for Armenia Startup Academy alumni!

What’s in it for you?
• Up to €10K in grant funding to fuel your startup’s growth
• Support in securing local and EU grants
• Access to global accelerators, mentors, and investor networks

Application deadline: March 28, 2025
Find more details and apply here 👉: https://www.startupacademy.am/pre-acceleration-program

The program is supported through the Private Sector Development and Technical Vocational Education and Training in Armenia project, commissioned by the German Government and implemented by GIZ.

#ArmeniaStartupAcademy #HeroHouse #IdeaSeedGrant #GIZ

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YC Summer Fellows Grants for Students!

YC is launching the Summer Fellows Grants, offering $20,000 in cash and $90,000 in compute credits for students to work on technical projects this summer. YC is interested in funding projects that use AI in new and creative ways, but the program is open to any technical project that impresses fellow programmers.

Who Can Apply?
• Undergraduate students in computer science or engineering, including first-year students and international applicants
• Exceptionally technical students from other majors (e.g., those with impressive open-source contributions)
• Individuals (though applicants can indicate if they plan to collaborate with others)

Selected candidates (from 20 to 50) will be invited for a 15-minute video interview at the end of March.

📌 Application deadline: March 28, 9:00 PM PT
👉 More details and apply: https://events.ycombinator.com/summer-fellows

#FellowGrants #YC #ApplyNow

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Google’s Largest Acquisition: $32B Wiz Deal

Google is buying cloud security startup Wiz for $32 billion in an all-cash deal. Wiz will remain an independent platform working across all cloud providers.

Notably, Index Ventures - where Nina Achadjian is a partner - was among Wiz’s early supporters.

The deal still requires regulatory approval and is expected to close in 2026.

#Google #Wiz #IndexVentures
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🚀 GIST Innovates South Caucasus is now accepting applications!

This 8-week intensive program is designed to help startups refine their ideas, find product-market fit, and gain expert mentorship from top U.S. and regional experts.

Timeline:
- Application Deadline: March 28, 2025
- Program Starts: June 20, 2025

Why join?
- Potential funding opportunities – last year’s teams secured funding!
- Travel stipend for in-person workshops in Tbilisi.
- Hands-on training in startup growth & customer discovery
- Access to world-class mentors & startup experts

Who can apply?

- Armenian founders (ages 18-40)
- Tech or science-based startups (almost everyone is eligible!)

Apply here 👉: https://www.gistnetwork.org/sc

#GISTInnovates #IdeaExploration #Funding #Mentorship #EPIC

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SupperAnnotate announces collaboration with NVIDIA 🎉

SuperAnnotate is taking AI model evaluation to the next level by integrating NVIDIA NeMo Evaluator, a cutting-edge microservice designed to benchmark generative AI models and streamline data quality management. This collaboration aims to address a major challenge in AI development: ensuring high-quality data at scale while balancing cost, speed, and accuracy.

Read more about the partnership here: https://www.superannotate.com/blog/superannotate-nvidia

#SuperAnnotate #NVIDIA #SuccessStory

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EPIC 2025 Startup Pitch Competition in Hong Kong!

EPIC 2025 will take place in Hong Kong, one of Asia’s top startup ecosystems. EPIC provides access to investors, corporate partners, and the Greater Bay Area’s thriving market. Its main focus areas are: Digital Health Tech | FinTech | GreenTech

Prizes:
- Overall Champion: $60,000 USD
- Tech Track Winner: $20,000 USD
- Top 12 Finalists: $10,000 USD

Eligibility requirements:
- Your company is a registered business (for less than 10 years)
- You innovate in Digital Health Tech, FinTech, or GreenTech.
- Your company plans to expand its R&D and business operations to Hong Kong or the Greater Bay Area in mainland China.

Application Deadline: June 17, 2025 (23:59 GMT+8)
Find more details and apply 👉: https://epic.hkstp.org/

#EPIC #StartupPitchCompetition #HongKong #China #CashPrizes

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🚀 STAN Invests in a Stealth Startup Revolutionizing Engineering Workflows!

STAN announced its latest investment in a stealth startup that is transforming how engineering teams handle customer-reported issues. With AI-driven severity assessment, root cause analysis, and auto-fix suggestions, engineers can now focus on building the future rather than troubleshooting the past! 📈

This marks STAN’s 25th closed deal, and notably, this investment is made after the STAN’s Pitching Session in Los Angeles (Oct 2024).

🎉 Congratulations to STAN Angels and the startup on this milestone!

#STAN #AngelInvestment #SuccessStory #Investment

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Do you have a bold idea in the creative industries? Join the Vahé & Lucie Foundation Fellowship 2025 at Impact Hub Yerevan!

This one-year program offers workshops on entrepreneurship, branding, mentorship and more.
There will be a financial support for top-performing fellows.

Deadline: March 23, 2025, 11:59 PM
Apply now: https://forms.gle/XTDvMZn8UrqBMkdEA

Find more details here: https://yerevan.impacthub.net/vahe-and-lucie-foundation-fellowship-program-2025/

#ImpactHub #CreativeIndustries #ApplyNow

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We have made a list of the most successful Armenian startups – the ones from Series A to 🦄 unicorn level or those that have successfully IPO-ed. This list does not include exited startups such as LiveLOOK, Aarki, Integrien and others. We wanted to analyze the backgrounds of the founders to identify key patterns, and here is what we found.

Founder Background Patterns
1. Over 80% of the founders have a STEM background.
2. Around 80% of the founders had significant experience before starting their current startup. All founders without prior work experience studied abroad – such as Davit Buniatyan, who earned his PhD at Princeton, and the Petrosyan brothers, who were pursuing their PhDs when launching SuperAnnotate.
3. Over 70% of the founders have either studied, worked, or lived abroad before launching their startup. Many gained experience at top universities or global tech firms before returning to Armenia or founding their startups internationally.
4. Around half of the founders worked at a major tech company (Google, Microsoft, Oracle, Twilio, etc.) before launching their startup.
5. Over 40% are serial entrepreneurs, having founded or exited previous companies before their current venture.

Ripple Effects of Picsart
1. Picsart has been a major talent hub for the Armenian startup ecosystem: Founders of two startups (Podcastle, EasyDMARC) previously worked at Picsart.
2. Picsart was born from Sourcio (a company founded by Hovhannes Avoyan, which later exited). The founder of Hercules AI also previously worked at Sourcio.
3. Picsart was a workplace of much more startup founders who are not in the list.

Successful Founders Tend to Give Back
Arto Yeritsyan (Podcastle), Davit Baghdasaryan, and Arto Minasyan (Krisp) co-founded BigStory VC to support fellow founders and invest in the next generation of Armenian startups.

See the continuation below ⬇️:

See the beginning above ⬆️:

List of the Startups we Looked at

🦄 ServiceTitan (IPO-ed in Dec 2024):
- Vahe Kuzoyan: University of Southern California
- Ara Mahdessian: Stanford University

🦄 Picsart (Series C):
- Hovhannes Avoyan: CEO and Founder at Sourcio (acquired by HelpSystems), CEO and Founder at Monitis Inc. (acquired by TeamViewer/GFI Software), General Manager at Lycos Europe/Bertelsmann, VP and General Manager at Brience Armenia (acquired by Lycos/Bertelsmann), CEO/Founder at CEDIT (acquired by Brience)

CodeSignal (Series C):
- Tigran Sloyan: Partner Technology Manager at Google, CTO at KeyIdeas, Founder & CTO at Yevista, Applications Engineer at Oracle, Teaching Assistant at MIT

Britive (Series B)
- Artyom Poghosyan: Vice President, Managed IAM at Optiv Inc., Co-founder & CEO at Advancive Technology Solutions, Manager, Advisory Services at Ernst & Young LLP, Experienced Consultant, Technology Risk Services at Protiviti, Consultant at Arthur Andersen, Analyst - International Trade Finance at HSBC

SuperAnnotate (Series B)
- Tigran Petrosyan: PHD Candidate, Universität Bern
- Vahan Petrosyan: KTH Royal Institute of Technology, PhD in Machine Learning, Utah State University, Master of Science (MS), Statistics

Hercules AI (Series B):
- Gevorg Karapetyan: Senior Software Engineer at Imagenomic, Software Engineer at Sourcio

IntelinAir (Series B):
- Al Eisaian: Co-Founder & CEO at IconApps, Inc. (Acquired by Science, Inc.), Global Head of Product Strategy and Marketing at Opera Solutions, Executive Chairman, Co-Founder, CEO at Integrien Corporation (Acquired by VMWare), SVP and General Manager at LowerMyBills.com (Acquired by Experian), Associate Partner at USWeb Corporation, Business Unit Manager at NMB (USA) Inc.
- Naira Hovakimyan: Professor of Mechanical Science and Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Professor at Virginia Tech, Research Scientist at Armenian Academy of Sciences

SoloLearn (Series B):
- Yeva Hyusyan: Country Manager at Microsoft, CEO at Microsoft Innovation Center Armenia, Program Development Officer at USAID/Armenia
- Davit Kocharyan: Regional Technical Evangelist at Microsoft Armenia, Co-Founder, Executive Director at developWay, Senior Software Developer at Nork Information-Analytical Center, Head of Programming Division at CHS Vericel Service

Collectly (Series A):
- Levon Brutyan (YC W17): Regional Manager CIS & Eastern Europe at Creditreform, Lawyer at Schulze, Brutyan and partners, Project manager at DaimlerChrysler RUS, Junior Lawyer at Schulze, Brutyan and partners

ActiveLoop (Series A):
- Davit Buniatyan (YC S18): UCL (Bachelor of Computer Science), Princeton University (PhD, Computer Science)

Cognaize (Series A):
- Vahe Andonians: Founding Partner at Estating, Senior Lecturer at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, Founder at SCDM

EasyDMARC (Series A):
- Gerasim Hovhannisyan: Director, IT infrastructure Operations at Picsart, Team Lead of Network Administration Group at Ameriabank, Administrator at Areximbank
- Avag Arakelyan: Technical Lead (Backend and Website) at Picsart, Senior Backend Developer at Synergy International Systems

Krisp (Series A):
- Davit Baghdasaryan: Head of Product Security at Twilio, Director, Advanced Technology at Nok Nok Labs (US), Security Architect, Sr. Software Engineer, Validity Sensors, Inc. (US), Software Architect, Hitegrity
- Arto Minasyan: CEO at Sticker Market, Inc., CEO at Web-Dorado (Armenia), Managing Partner at InfoExpert (Armenia)

Podcastle (Series A)
- Arto Yeritsyan: VP of Engineering at Picsart, Co-Founder at Coding Records, Technical Lead at Be2 (Germany)

Softr (Series A)
- Mariam Hakobyan: Head of Technology at Scout24 Group, Cohort Member BE2 at Entrepreneur First, Fellow at Included VC
- Arthur Mkrtchyan: Director of Engineering at Zalando, CTO/CPO, Collabary by Zalando, Director of Data and Analytics at GameGenetics, Software Engineering Team Lead at PayPal

#TopArmenianStartups #FounderProfiles #Patterns

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🚀 Krisp Unveils SDK to Enhance AI Voice Agent Communication

Krisp has launched its Noise Cancellation SDK, designed to enhance turn-taking, speech recognition accuracy, and interrupt-handling for AI voice agents. By eliminating background noise and secondary voices, this SDK ensures seamless, uninterrupted conversations between humans and AI.

Key Features:
- Real-time background noise & voice removal
- Improved voice activity detection (VAD)
- Server-side & on-device deployment options
- Integrations available for Python, Node.js, JavaScript/WASM & more

Already powering Vodex, Fixie (Ultravox), Daily, LiveKit, Fluidworks, and Synthflow, Krisp’s technology is setting a new standard for AI-driven voice interactions.

📢 Learn more & request a demo: krisp.ai/developers

The press release was published on March 20 - what a perfect birthday gift for Krisp’s co-founder Davit Baghdasaryan! 🎉 Happy birthday, Davit, and congratulations to the Krisp team! 🙌

#AI #VoiceTech #KrispAI #Innovation #SuccessStory

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🚀 Save the Date: Sevan Startup Summit 2025!

Mark your calendars - Sevan Startup Summit 2025 is happening from July 20 to 26! 🌊🏕️

The SSS team has announced that registration will open very soon!

One of the best startup events you don’t want to miss! 🔥

#Sevan25 #SevanStartupSummit #HaveFun #StartupEcosystem

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Armenian Code Academy, STEP Consulting LLC, and Technological Education Foundation published their Armenia’s Tech & Startup Ecosystem Overvew for 2025🚀📊

Key Highlights:

• 1,253 active tech companies in Armenia
• 58,700 professionals are employed in tech sector
• $2.3B industry turnover in 2024
• 7% of GDP from ICT – a significant contributor to the GDP
• $120M+ in startup funding in 2024 – Great year with multiple Series A & B rounds.
• 🦄 ServiceTitan IPO on NASDAQ – The first Armenian-founded startup to go public, valuing at nearly $10B.
• Plug & Play’s entry into Armenia – A huge milestone for the country!

🔗 Donwloand the full report here: https://bootcamps.aca.am/insights

#ArmeniaTech #StartupEcosystem #Investment #TechGrowth #Innovation

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Quick observation here is that the revenue per employee in tech sector is $39K while the country's GDP per capita is $8K (2023, World Bank) - almost 5x difference! This underscores why tech is a key driver of economic growth, bringing higher productivity, wages, and global competitiveness.

Still 3 days to apply for this program with deadline on March 28, 2025!

a16z speedrun: Up to $1M for Founders Building the Future of AI & Entertainment!

a16z speedrun backs global startups innovating in AI, creative tools, gaming, XR, streaming, and next-gen entertainment.

Why Apply?
- Up to $1M in funding
- 12-week program with expert guidance
- Exclusive community & connections
- Demo Day during SF Tech Week
- $10K reimbursement for hosting an event at Tech Week

Early Access Deadline: March 30, 2025
Program Dates: July 28 – October 10, 2025 (Los Angeles)

Apply now for a fast-track review & priority consideration: https://sr.a16z.com/techweek/

#AI #Startups #Funding #a16z #Speedrun #TechInnovation

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🚀 Please support Podcastle's campaign on Product Hunt!

Podcastle is live with their Asyncflow v1.0 - a proprietary AI model designed to deliver high-quality AI voices with lower training & inference costs.

What’s New?
1000+ AI Voices – Convert text to speech in seconds with diverse accents & styles
Voice Cloning – Create a high-quality voice clone in just 10 seconds
AI Voice API – Premium, expressive voice quality at an optimized cost

👉 Upvote, comment and share - https://www.producthunt.com/posts/ai-voices-by-asyncflow-v1-0

#AI #VoiceTech #Podcastle #CallForCommunitySupport

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📢 Armenia’s AI leap: how open access and strategic alliances could supercharge a small country’s high-tech future

Armenia is prioritizing AI and deep tech, having in mind there is no barrier to innovation. Here are the key takeaways from the article by Suzanna Shamakhyan, executive director of FAST:

Notable Developments:
• Armenia initiated a partnership with Mistral AI, aligning with Europe’s AI ecosystem.
• ServiceTitan, a unicorn co-founded by Armenian-Americans, IPO-ed in Dec 2024.
• NVIDIA operates in Armenia, while SpaceX’s Starlink is set for nationwide deployment.

Education:
• FAST’s Generation AI program aims to reach 85% of high school students by 2026.
• TUMO’s success model has expanded globally to Paris, Berlin, and beyond.

The Global Context:
• Armenia ranks 63rd in the Global Innovation Index.
• The country attracts tech talent from Russia, much like Israel did in the ‘90s.
• AI-driven education and diaspora-led funding are fueling the rise of new startups.

Read the full article here: https://neweasterneurope.eu/2025/03/25/armenias-ai-leap-how-open-access-and-strategic-alliances-could-supercharge-a-small-countrys-high-tech-future/

#AI #TechEcosystem #ArmeniaTech #DeepTech #Innovation

🚀 Armenian Early-Stage Startups - this is for you!

EU4Innovation East announced call for applications to support a select number of Armenian early-stage startups in showcasing their innovations at GITEX Europe 2025 - 🇩🇪 Germany’s premier tech and investment event.

Why Apply?
• Connect with 1,200+ investors, industry leaders, and policymakers
• Gain international exposure in the 🇪🇺 European innovation ecosystem
• Compete for €100,000 in equity-free funding at the Supernova Challenge
• Receive a participation package worth €2,500

👉 Apply now: https://bit.ly/4c1zIHg

💡 Take your startup global!

EU4InnovationEast is implemented by Expertise France, funded by the European Commission, and co-funded by the French Ministry of Economy & Foreign Affairs.

#ArmenianStartups #GITEXEurope2025 #EquityFreeFunding #EU4InnovationEast

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As the minister of the high-tech industry of Armenia announced Starlink is officially available in Armenia!

Great news as this marks an important milestone of tech infrastructure development in Armenia.

Thanks and congratulations to all whose efforts helped to make it happen 🤝

#Starlink #Infrastructure #Connectivity

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