Beeline Armenia joins Neruzh startup programme

ArmInfo.Beeline Armenia has joined Neruzh, the Diaspora tech startup programme implemented by the Armenian Ministry of High-Tech Industry and the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs.

According to the company's official statement, the main goal of the  program is to attract talented entrepreneurs, Diaspora engineers,  stimulate repatriation, and also develop a startup ecosystem in  Armenia.  The program will create an opportunity to turn  technological ideas and projects of Armenians living abroad into a  business in Armenia and enter global markets.

The programme's 5-day bootcamp in UWC Dilijan has gathered 80  representatives of 47 technological startups from 17 countries  (Georgia, Belarus, China, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany,  France, the UK, Malta, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Lebanon, South Korea,  Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States). 

On the first day, Beeline Armenia CEO Andrey Pyatakhin attended a  panel discussion and shared his experience and views on how  corporations can support and cooperate with startups.  

"All 10 companies in VEON Group conduct similar corporate  responsibility policies, aimed at supporting startups, in their  respective countries. As a company that works directly with  technology and has an international network across 11 countries  including the Netherlands, where our headquarters is located, Beeline  has a lot to offer in terms of knowledge, experience and networking,"  said Pyatakhin.  

According to the source, Beeline Startup Incubator is actively  involved in the event as well.  The incubator's mentors and leader,  Director of Armenian Business Angels Network Grigor Hovhannisyan will  support the bootcamp startups with workshops and advice.  The  incubator will also allow two startups to get involved in the next  cycle bypassing the selection stage, as a gift to the programme.

It is worth noting that in 2018, three startups that won the same  program and received state grants - <Brushette>, <Gruv> and  <Storegear>, registered their business in Armenia and created 14 new  jobs over the year. 

Official site of the NerUzh program is www.neruzh.am 

To recall, VEON Armenia CJSC is now VEON Armenia Holdings B.V.  (Beeline trademark) is part of the VEON group of companies, which is  one of the world's largest integrated telecom operators. The group  includes communications companies providing voice and data services  based on a wide range of wireless and fixed-line technologies, as  well as broadband Internet access for subscribers in Russia, Italy,  Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia,  Kyrgyzstan, Laos , Algeria, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The companies of  the group provide services under the brands Beeline, Kyivstar, Wind,  Mobilink, Banglalink and Djezzy.