NerUzh
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The NerUzh Diaspora Tech Startup Program was successfully piloted in 2018 as a means of attracting Diaspora tech and business talent back to the homeland. “Neruzh” in Armenian means “potential,” but it is also a play on words, which directly translated means “internal strength.” The program aimed to enrich the Armenian startup ecosystem by promoting the inflow of innovative, scalable tech startups from the Diaspora and to leverage the Diaspora’s transcontinental networks, in order to, position Armenia as a gateway for deploying and scaling-up impactful technologies to global markets.
The NerUzh Tech Startup Program is designed to introduce diaspora entrepreneurs to the possibilities of basing their startups in Armenia and familiarize them with the country’s business practices as well as the local ecosystem.
The winners of the competition—provided that they present a business plan, company registration in Armenia and a local corporate bank account—are invited to repatriate to Armenia and awarded between $15,000 and $30,000 in funding, as well as mentorship to grow their businesses in Armenia. The 2019 winners included 6 startups, 3 of which were in the idea stage, and 3 ready for market launch stage. Accordingly, the three startups in the idea stage included: Marathon, eBin, SoFetch. The startups in the ready to enter the market stage included: Schedex, Garoon Tech and Fact Industries.
