Preferred
At the initiative of Yerevan Chapter of Startup Grind, a globally renowned organization that fosters collaboration among entrepreneurs and startup communities, hosted a panel discussion entitled "Sciencepreneurship: from Lab to Action.”
The discussion was moderated by Suzanna Shamakhyan, VP of Strategic Programming at FAST.
The lineup of panelists included experienced entrepreneurs who successfully combine science with business by leading science-backed startups: Marina Aghayan, CEO and Co-Founder of AIP Tech, Yana Aznavour, CEO and Founder of Endometrics, and Art Ghazaryan, Co-Founder of BioCentric.AI.
Commercialization stands as one of the main pillars of the Armenian Foundation for Science and Technology (FAST) alongside education and research.
"As an entity devoted to advancing science in Armenia, we highly value the opportunity to engage in discussions with various ecosystem participants and experienced specialists. Through collaborative efforts, we believe we can propel scientific entrepreneurship within Armenia," emphasized Suzanna Shamakhyan.
Sha added that FAST is committed to implementing programs that facilitate scientific innovation, extend financial support, and provide professional guidance to startups. One noteworthy initiative is the Science and Technology Angels Network (STAN), which presently unites over 40 angel investors from eight countries and has invested USD 590K in 13 Armenian startups.
Gohar Malumyan, Co-Director of Startup Grind Yerevan Chapter, shared her enthusiasm about the event's objective and outcomes: "Startup Grind is all about bringing together amazing founders, sharing their experiences, making friends, and helping others in their similar journeys. 2023 was a very active year at Startup Grind Yerevan Chapter. We have hosted many outstanding speakers and gathered our community to discuss trending topics in the technology sector.
This time, we were happy to provide the platform to explore the “friendship” between science and entrepreneurship and make meaningful connections across these disciplines. This was the last event of the Startup Grind Yerevan Chapter’s ongoing season, and we were thrilled to wrap it up by hosting our brilliant moderator and panelists who facilitated an insightful conversation about the opportunities and struggles of building business opportunities for research products."
At the heart of the panel discussion were the questions how science can be transformed into a business venture? What does it take for a scientist to become an entrepreneur? What are the main success factors and challenges that science-intensive startups phase when transitioning from seed stage to growth stage? What is the impact of the environment and ecosystem where scientists work for their entrepreneurial endeavors?
