Armenian innovations on the global stage: 5 projects worth knowing about

Armenia is increasingly making its voice heard as a country of ideas and technology. Just a few years ago, it was more often seen as an outsourcing hub for international IT companies, but today the situation has changed: projects are emerging here that compete in global markets.

Names like Picsart, Krisp, SuperAnnotate, and Podcastle have long become household names: millions of users around the world know them, and experts cite them as examples when speaking of the successes of Armenia’s IT sector. But the country’s technological landscape is much richer. Following these giants, dozens of companies have appeared that may not yet be well known to the general public but have already secured strong positions in the IT industry.

We’re talking about startups that bring tangible benefits to diverse professional ecosystems—from medicine and cybersecurity to education and journalism. Today, we will highlight five applications that prove: Armenia is not just about Picsart and Krisp. It is a whole ecosystem of ideas ready to surprise the world.

Robin — a Robot That Knows How to Be a Friend

Not every startup dares to create a project where technology becomes literally human. Armenian company Expper Technologies took on this challenge back in 2017, when classmates Karen Khachikyan and Hayk Khorsandjian decided to combine robotics with artificial intelligence and create a social robot named Robin.

Robin is not like the usual “metal helpers”: he understands speech, recognizes emotions and facial expressions, and therefore can respond to the mood of his interlocutor. At a bank, he can ease a client’s stress; in a store, he can help a customer; and in a hospital, he can become a true friend to a child. This was especially evident during the pandemic, when young patients in pediatric wards were deprived of visits from relatives: Robin talked with them, played, offered support—and helped children cope with fear and loneliness.

Technically, he is no less impressive: 3D cameras, infrared laser, facial and emotion recognition systems. But the key feature is his unique voice, generated by AI rather than pre-recorded phrases. Thanks to this, Robin communicates naturally and vividly. Robin became not just a robot but a technology that knows how to be a friend.

Recognition came quickly. In 2021, TIME magazine included Robin in its list of the Best Inventions of the Year in the “Robotics” category, while Fast Company honored the project with its Innovation by Design Awards.

Denovo Sciences — AI Against Incurable Diseases

In 2019, a company emerged in Yerevan that set out to challenge the very future of medicine. Denovo Sciences is not just a startup but a deep-tech team that uses artificial intelligence to create next-generation drugs.

Instead of lengthy and costly lab experiments, their platform employs deep and reinforcement learning methods to scan the vast chemical space and generate highly innovative molecules. Moreover, the system can design compounds that simultaneously target several biological mechanisms.

Denovo offers different collaboration formats: from licensing solutions and R&D services for pharmaceutical companies to an API that can be integrated directly into research platforms. Their team unites machine learning experts, biologists, and chemists — a collaboration that has already led to partnerships with international research centers.

The mission of Denovo Sciences is to revolutionize drug development. Where decades and billions were once required, they strive to prove: computational methods and science together can save lives much faster.

EasyDMARC — A Shield for Email

The story of EasyDMARC began not in a lab or a venture fund’s office but with a real problem. A phishing attack once caused serious financial and reputational damage to a company where one of the future founders was working as a cybersecurity consultant. This incident became the starting point: Gerasim Hovhannisyan and Avag Arakelyan decided to create a tool that would protect organizations from such risks — simple, automated, and accessible to any business.

Thus, in 2017, EasyDMARC was born — a startup that has since become one of the leaders in email security. Its cloud platform, enhanced with AI, helps companies protect domains from spoofing and phishing, improve email deliverability, and minimize the risk of data leaks and financial losses. In simple terms, it is the first line of defense for corporate email.

Today, EasyDMARC operates in 130 countries, with more than 175,000 domains using its solutions, including well-known names like Picsart, Panasonic, and Kodak.

EasyDMARC proved that global threats can be stopped by a small team — if they have enough expertise, ambition, and a belief that security should be accessible to everyone.

SoloLearn — Making Programming Fun

In 2013, Davit Baghdasaryan and Artavazd Minasyan created SoloLearn — a mobile platform that made learning programming accessible to millions of people worldwide. Their goal was simple but ambitious: to turn education into a game, where theory and practice go hand in hand, and users stay motivated through competition and community interaction.

Today, SoloLearn offers courses in more than 13 programming languages, including Python, JavaScript, C++, Java, HTML, and many others. Users can participate in challenges, discuss problems, share projects — all from their mobile devices. The app is free on iOS, Android, and web, allowing people to learn anytime, anywhere.

By 2018, the number of registered users surpassed 30 million, with over a million actively using the platform every month. The startup raised several funding rounds totaling about $7 million, including a major $5.6 million investment from venture fund Naspers.

The popularity of SoloLearn is easy to explain: ease of use, social features, and a motivational system with points and rankings make learning both engaging and effective. Today, the platform continues to evolve, adding new courses and AI-powered learning tools.

SoloLearn is one of the most successful Armenian IT companies, helping people around the world learn programming in a fun, accessible, and inspiring way.

Talk2edit — When Voice Turns Into Text

The idea for Talk2edit was born from a practical challenge: to make working with audio and video easier for journalists. Varuj Baghdasaryan wanted to create a tool that could automatically turn speech into text and translate it into other languages. Early versions supported only Armenian, but today the platform’s capabilities are much broader.

Now Talk2edit transcribes speech in eight languages and translates it into fourteen, including Armenian, English, Russian, Persian, Georgian, Turkish, and more. Its transcription accuracy is close to human level, and translations sound natural — making the platform easy to use daily without effort.

Although the project was initially designed for journalists, it has since found applications in other fields. For example, the National Academy of Sciences uses Talk2edit to transcribe materials in Persian. This demonstrates the platform’s flexibility: it is useful anywhere fast and accurate speech-to-text conversion is required.

Talk2edit is a clear example of how Armenian startups are creating tools that make work simpler, faster, and smarter.