Startups, investors and mentors around one campfire on the shore of Sevan: What was interesting at Sevan Startup Summit 2024?

More than 150 startups, mentors and representatives of investment organizations from 40 countries of the world - they all gathered in a tent city on the shore of Lake Sevan to teach and learn for a whole week, discuss possible cooperation and conclude promising deals in an informal camping atmosphere.

It is no coincidence that Sevan Startup Summit is considered one of the most important IT events in Armenia. Every year, this informal business forum attracts hundreds and thousands of startups, and the best of them find mentors and investors and are given an opportunity to accelerate their development and reach a completely new level.

Project Director Vahagn Rapyan told NEWS.am Tech, a media partner of Sevan Startup Summit, that this year the summit includes three new event formats: Sevan Agritech Summit - with conferences, panel discussions on various agricultural issues and a competition program, the Sevan EV Rally 2024 electric vehicle competition, as well as the Energy Transition and Entrepreneurship Summit - with various panel discussions and seminars on alternative energy and entrepreneurship.

The formats familiar to participants of previous years’ events have also been retained: booster and micro-incubation programs, one-to-one mentoring, expert-led seminars, pitch competitions, prize draws and investment prizes worth over $200,000, as well as opportunities to meet new people and establish connections over a campfire. 

AgriTech: New technologies for agriculture in spotlight

From June 24 to 27, the first  Sevan Agritech Summit was also held within the framework of the event, during which high-ranking officials of the RA government and international institutions, leading experts in this field from Armenia and abroad, representatives of private companies and research institutes discussed the best world practices in the use of digital and innovative technologies in the agricultural sector of Armenia.

The main topics of the forum were the application of digital solutions and advanced digital technologies in agriculture, as well as the application of advanced agrobiotechnologies and geospatial technologies for the development of agriculture.

There was also a competition among companies presenting technological solutions to urgent agro-industrial problems in Armenia.

Dr. Aftab Alam, an expert at USAID Economic Foundations for a Resilient Armenia Activity program, was one of the invited experts at the summit. In an interview with NEWS.am Tech, he said that during his presentation titled New Trends in Agritech to Support Efficiency, Productivity, and Sustainability in Agriculture, he primarily wanted to show the new generation of entrepreneurs in Armenia what new opportunities the application of modern technologies in agriculture can open up for them, how technologies can make the agricultural sector more sustainable and efficient, and how they can impact the export of products from Armenia to other countries.

"Today there are really many interesting technologies that can significantly affect the agricultural sector. The new generation of entrepreneurs is quite actively implementing these technologies. But I believe that the more these technologies are distributed, the better the situation with agriculture in Armenia will be and the more the potential for export will grow," the specialist noted.

According to him, Sevan Agritech Summit became an excellent platform where local farmers and entrepreneurs were able to communicate with various experts, understand how they should promote and develop their business. They also managed to discuss a number of interesting and important issues, as well as prospects for cooperation between different countries, including between Armenia and the UAE, where Dr. Alam currently works.

Sevan Agritech Summit was organized by Startup Armenia Foundation, USAID Economic Foundations for a Resilient Armenia, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth in Mountainous Armenia (SIGMA) program funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), in cooperation with the International Center for Agribusiness Research and Education (ICARE) Foundation.

Sevan EV Rally featuring Samy Naceri

On July 23, within the framework of Sevan Startup Summit 2024, the Sevan EV Rally 2024 electric vehicle tournament was held – the first not only in Armenia, but also in the entire region.

“This year, as part of the Sevan EV Rally, we had a special guest, the famous actor from the movie Taxi Samy Naceri, who announced the start of the competition and at the end awarded the winners with medals and other gifts prepared by our colleagues,” said Vahagn Rapyan.

Talking to reporters, Samy Naceri said that the goal of Sevan Startup Summit is to help develop startups and raise environmental issues.

“Thanks to this event, we learned that color television was invented by an Armenian,” he added.

The tournament involved about 25 cars, which competed in two groups by traction type - 2WD and 4WD. The winners were determined by the points scored and the time spent.

Sevan EV Rally 2024 became a reality thanks to the efforts of Seaside Startup Summit, Yell Extreme Park and Charger.am, as well as partners GTB Holdings, Andron, AMG HUB, X-Drive driving school and Team Energy. The main goal of the event is to promote the use of electric vehicles to preserve the environment, as well as to raise environmental issues of Lake Sevan. According to the organizers, Sevan EV Rally will now become an annual event and expand its geography.

What challenges and opportunities does the global energy transition present?

Sevan Startup Summit 2024 also hosted the Energy Transition and Entrepreneurship Summit (ETES) 2024, bringing together leaders from across sectors to address the challenges and opportunities presented by the global energy transition.

Over two days, experts and stakeholders discussed the challenges posed by renewable energy, the economic and social implications of the transition from fossil fuels, and the critical role of entrepreneurship in driving innovation and economic growth in the energy sector. 

In addition to the presentations and workshops, participants also had the opportunity to establish business connections and collaborations that will promote education, innovation, investment, and all of this will help accelerate the global transition to sustainable energy.

The Energy Transition and Entrepreneurship Summit (ETES) 2024 is co-organized by Shtigen and Startup Armenia Foundation.

Mentoring: Showing the path to success

Dozens of experts held individual mentoring sessions for startuppers during Sevan Startup Summit 2024. One of the mentors was Raffi Kassarjian, head of Sensyan consulting company. In an interview with NEWS.am Tech, he said that during 10-minute meetings, he consulted startup founders and helped them understand how promising their idea is, whether it can be successful, and what needs to be done to achieve this.

According to him, during these sessions he met many interesting startups, although they were all at different stages of “development”: some had only a good, promising idea, but its authors had not yet done anything to implement it; other startups already had a completely finished product, and they knew what to do with it next.

Both Raffi Kassarjian and other mentors not only consulted, but were also ready to help all interesting and promising startups, including useful contacts with those who would be ready to invest in them.

Of course, this is only a small part of what happened at Sevan Startup Summit 2024. Next year, according to the organizers, it will be even more interesting.