Monday, November 26 2018 14:16

ArmInfo. SAP company has summed up the international competition of social startups SAP UP. In Armenia competition was held for the first time. The winner was a  project to create furniture for children with special needs ''Special  Parents for Special Kids'', which received a grant of 2 million  drams.  BOO BIKES won the first place and a special prize: bike  shop-cafe: 1 million drams will be spent on the development of  territories and cafes for cyclists.

The initiative is designed to promote sports and a healthy lifestyle.'' Noomee and Inclusive Gym'' shared the second place.  The Special Parents for Special Kids  project won Grand Prix of the competition. The goal of a startup is  to create a safe development environment in children's institutions  and to make accessible adaptive furniture for people with special  needs. As the project founder Marina Parazyan notes, the grant will  be spent on production, and the products will be distributed among  families in the regions of Armenia.

"SAP UP really gives you the opportunity to change the world for the better. This is especially important when it comes to children who personify our future. With  the help of our partners, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA),  and now the SAP grant, we can provide parents of children with  disabilities with the necessary tools that will be able to improve  their quality of life, "said Marina Parazyan. The two social  projects- winners will be able to go to Europe, get training and get  advice from experts in the field of social entrepreneurship.

Among them is the noomee application for self-adaptation and care for  children with special needs, and Inclusive Gym is an inclusive gym  for children with special needs, including a friendly environment for  children with autism spectrum disorder. More than 60 social  entrepreneurs from 30 cities of Armenia submitted applications for  participation in the competition. 11 projects reached the final.   According to statistics, the majority of entrepreneurs in the  republic are women (75%), more than half of the participants combine  activities in a startup with their main job. The leaders in the  number of applications were the topics of education, culture,  development of territories and ensuring equal opportunities. "For 4  years, SAP UP has turned from a local initiative into an  international competition that draws attention to dozens of important  projects in Armenia, Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan. We believe that  SAP UP in Armenia can be an effective platform for developing social  entrepreneurship, sharing knowledge and best practices, " Ilya  Shulipin, Managing Director of SAP in Armenia, noted. SAP UP was  established by SAP CIS in 2015. The main goal of the competition is  to create an environment for expert and financial support of social  startups by the business community.

Within the framework of the Competition, SAP supports the best practices of social  entrepreneurship in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and since 2018 in  Armenia. Involving representatives of the commercial sector,  government, education and public structures in the competition, SAP  helps to form a community that promotes and develops social  entrepreneurship as a separate segment of the country's economy.  SAP  is the global market leader in enterprise applications. SAP solutions  and services are used by more than 404 thousand customers in 180  countries around the world. For more than 25 years, SAP has helped  domestic companies transform and optimize their businesses based on  innovative solutions. The company is actively investing in training,  increasing competence and developing an ecosystem expertise.