Investments in ten leading IT startups` about $490m over last ten  years - expert 

ArmInfo. The IT sector is one of the "bright spots" of the Armenian economy and it is very gratifying that it is gradually moving from an outsourcing business model to developing its own products, attracting the attention of venture investors, Director of the Modex consulting company Haykaz Fanyan qrote on his social media account.

According to him, over the past 10 years, only 10 leading (by funding  amount) startups have attracted about $490 million, mainly from  foreign investors. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these  companies are registered in other countries and foreign investments  made in these companies are not taken into account by Armenia, he  added. At the same time, as the economist clarified, the definition  of "company founded in Armenia" refers to startups whose first  offices were opened in the RA. Thus, 39.8% of the above- mentioned  $490 million falls on Picsart ($195 million). Of these 10 startups,  only Picsart and CodeSignal managed to raise Series C funding - $130  million and $50 million, respectively.

In 2024, EasyDMARC ($20 million), Podcastle ($13.5 million) and  ActiveLoop ($11 million) together attracted $44.5 million in  investments. It should be noted that according to statistics, the ICT  sector of Armenia in 2023 generated revenue of 883.2 billion drams  (over $2.2 billion), which is 54.8% higher than the same period last  year. 

There are 50 thousand specialists working in the information  technology sector of the Republic of Armenia.  Services have  traditionally been the dominant segment in ICT, with a share of 68.6%  (versus 77.7% in 2022) or 606.2 billion drams, an increase of 36.7%  over the year. The lion's share of services falls on the information  technology (IT) sector - 449.1 billion drams, which is 52.4% higher  than the same period last year. 

The revenue of services in the telecommunications sector amounted to  148.3 billion drams, with an annual growth of 5.5%. At the same time,  the share of the ICT production segment decreased over the year from  0.5% to 0.1%, and the revenue volume decreased by 63.8% - to 972.1  million drams. Meanwhile, in mid- September of this year, former  Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan reported a serious decline in the  country's IT sector. According to him, in the first half of this  year, the industry shrank by about 13%. The main reason is the missed  opportunities, Kerobyan believes.