Some 140 start-ups vie for funding

/By AzerNews/

By Nigar Orujova

Growing number of start-ups are keen to win grants as part of the third competition organized by the State Fund for Information Technologies Development, which has received 138 project entries.

The previously approved criteria presuppose that the submitted projects in the category of software development must hold future prospects for development.

In addition, the designs of innovative products should be supported by their prototypes. Projects should also focus on the development of innovative infrastructure and the commercialization of new technologies.

Moreover, projects aimed at creating a network infrastructure should be based on modern technologies, as well as projects targeting the expansion of IT- and internet-based services should be able to apply for financial support from the state fund.

Project evaluation will be conducted in two phases: the initial examination will take 15 working days, while the second phase will take 20 working days. The second phase will involve a comprehensive examination conducted by independent experts, after which a final decision will be taken at the level of the supervisory board of the state fund.

The selection of projects within the framework of the third grant competition took over a month from October 2 to November 10. This time, the process of submission was simplified with the E-Grant section on ictfund.gov.az, which provided the start-ups to upload their entries online.

A decision on the financing of the project is expected to be made in January next year.

The State Fund for Information Technologies Development was established in March 2012 to execute the state policy on the development and support of small enterprises in the field of science and technology, providing them with direct financial assistance and training which, in turn, will help to create new jobs.

The State Fund for the Development of Information Technologies allocated 4.6 million manats for financing IT projects in Azerbaijan in 2014. A part of these funds was provided as soft loans to 12 entrepreneurs specializing in the field of information and communication technologies.