Monday, 11 December 2017
Karen Karapetyan Attends Official Opening of ImpactAim Accelerator
Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan attended the official opening of ImpactAim, the first-ever accelerator of impact-oriented enterprises in Armenia. ImpactAim is an important component of the National Innovation Center for Sustainable Development Goals, established within the framework of cooperation between the Government of Armenia and the United Nations.
Appreciating the initiative, Prime Minister Karapetyan said, “Our UN colleagues have conceived this accelerator to provide maximum support to start-ups and ventures, as well as to understand how much investment is needed, prepare groundwork for investment, give a boost to such enterprises so that they could effectively contribute to the implementation of the United Nations Development Goals. On several occasions, I have talked about the need for acceleration, and I would like to emphasize now that it is crucial both for startups and well-established businesses to be competitive in the market, commercialize and capitalize, attract investment, expand business, and I believe that this platform will serve that purpose. The accelerators are new to Armenia, and we are eager to see them integrated into our reality.”
According to the Head of Government, fostered by open competition, exciting and tangible progress is being recorded in the field of information technologies in the Republic of Armenia. “We have to state that our representatives can be successful and compete with much stronger human and financial resources. The Government is interested and will fully use its potential to bolster this sector and expand business both inside and outside the country,” Karen Karapetyan pointed out.
UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Bradley Busetto said in his speech that Armenia is a good platform for strategic cooperation between international organizations, public-funded investors and social entrepreneurs, and the initiative to launch an accelerator comes as one of the results of the Impact Investment for International Development Global Summit, which was held in March, 2017. “This type of accelerator will be the first platform aimed at creating social benefits through innovative and more effective approaches,” he said.
As part of UNDP’s impact investment strategy the Accelerator is a new initiative that aims to increase the impact of social enterprises and impact-oriented companies in Armenia and other countries on the way to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals through the use of UNDP’s global network and experience.
The UNDP-initiated Accelerator Project will be implemented jointly with ImpactHub Yerevan and Catalyst Foundation. 96 applications from 25 countries worldwide have been received for the first round of ImpactAim Accelerator. The first stage of the project was launched in November, 2017, and will last for 12 weeks, involving 7 business entities and 2 companies as associate participants.
Mediating various training and special programs, the companies can strengthen their market base, expand the impact and step up investment.
