The final round of the GovTech Launchpad Diaspora-Armenia Startup Program took place, in which the Intothe.tech, My Roomie and TeachSurfing teams competed.

The judging panel consisted of High Commissioner Zareh Sinanyan, Executive Director of Embry Tech and co-founder Sargis Karapetyan, Executive Director of the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises-UATE Raffi Kassarjian, Head of the Strategic Transformation Team of Armenia Hakob Abrahamyan, and Project Manager of our office’s Repatriation Integration Center Margarita Baghdasaryan.

The High Commissioner specifically thanked Impact Hub Yerevan and GIZ for making the program a reality, as well as the mentors and office team for their joint efforts. Ani Baboomian, Executive Director of Impact Hub Yerevan, also greeted the participants with a video message. The teams presented their innovative programs to the jury panel, which were all aimed at making the reintegration process of those who have decided to repatriate much easier. After a question and answer session, the judges made a decision. The winner was TeachSurfing with its ConnectArmenia-ArmeniaConnect startup, with which our office looks forward to cooperating with in the future.

The other startups received surprise prizes as well. The team of the My Rommy startup will have the opportunity to work with Raffi Kassarjian and mentors for further independent development, and Intothe.tech will receive support to find new investors for its startup.