Bakcell, the First Mobile Operator and the Fastest Mobile Internet Provider of Azerbaijan signed a cooperation agreement with the INNOLAND Incubation and Acceleration Center of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of Azerbaijan.

At the official signing ceremony, held on December 20th at the INNOLAND Incubation and Acceleration Center, Bakcell CEO Nikolai Beckers has pointed out that application of innovations and supporting startups is one of the main priorities of Bakcell strategy: “It is a known fact that Bakcell is one of the first companies in the country to support various projects aimed at development of startups. Our “AppLab” incubation center is one of the rare environments where some of the country’s most interesting projects are accumulated. I’m confident that our cooperation with the newly opened INNOLAND center will contribute largely to development of the country’s entire startup ecosystem and will become one of the most successful partnerships in the area of innovations”.

Director of the "Innovation Center” Tagi Taghi-Zade spoke about the importance of this cooperation, being a public-private partnership. It was noted that the main goal of this partnership is to support entrepreneurship ecosystems for technology startups in our country and to implement high-level cooperation that serves the needs of emerging technology entrepreneurs. Cooperation between parties will have a great significance in terms of establishing a startup culture in Azerbaijan, developing a spirit of innovative entrepreneurship and startup ecosystems, supporting existing initiatives, creating conditions for the application of innovative initiatives in the current economic processes of the country, forming a motivating factor for the development and creation of various discoveries and other innovations.

It should be noted that INNOLAND is an incubation, acceleration and research center created to develop the private sector, promote innovation and expand the startup movement both in Azerbaijan and beyond its borders. INNOLAND consists of the Co-working, Incubation, Acceleration and IT Training and Education Center.

The AppLab program of Bakcell will from now on function as an Acceleration Center to continue supporting the startup project in a broader format. Since the year 2014, local startups and developers engaged in creation of various hardware and software receive support from Bakcell for implementation of their ideas.

Being a known leader in innovation, Bakcell constantly supports the local startups, as well as project implemented in the area of education, science and technology.

Registration is now open for the “Pre-seed and Seed Investment Readiness” program.

The program aims to prepare startups that already have a product and their first paying customers for investment in a short period of time and connect them directly with selected VCs. The process will be carried out through individual mentorship, a deep analytical approach, and the support of the AnalyzeWare platform.

A total of 5 startups will be selected. Within the program, they will shape their investment valuation, financial approach, and strategy over a period of 2–4 weeks. Notably, the selected startups will participate without any membership fee and will receive 12 months of free access to the AnalyzeWare Strategy package.

Application deadline: 14.02.2026

Registration link: https://forms.gle/BQBJ9fuxJoMU8TSr7

Meeting on “Special Regulatory Regime” for Fintech Startups Held

A meeting on the “Special Regulatory Regime,” which is of significant importance for the fintech ecosystem, was successfully held with the joint organization of the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the INNOLAND Incubation and Acceleration Center.

During the presentation, detailed information was provided on the purpose of the special regulatory regime, evaluation criteria for applications, and the pilot process, followed by extensive discussions in this direction. The session was both informative and practically useful for startups operating in the fintech sector.

Speakers:
• Sahib Hasanov– Head of Department, Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan
• Vagif Guliyev– Senior Specialist, Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan

The meeting included extensive discussions on existing opportunities for the fintech ecosystem, regulatory requirements, innovation regulation, and future cooperation prospects. A Q&A session was also organized for participants, during which current issues in the field were explained in detail.