The delegation of Startup Estonia and the “Garage 48” Acceleration Center, established upon the initiative of the Estonian government, got acquainted with the “INNOLAND” Incubation and Acceleration Center of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Wide information on operating Co-working, Incubation, Acceleration and IT Training, as well as the startups residing within the center, was delivered to the guests.

Then, the Memorandum of Collaboration was signed between parties.

The Memorandum of Cooperation involves the establishment of an entrepreneurial support ecosystem as well as the creation and development of investor opportunities in the relevant regions for local technology startups. Furthermore, it covers the adoption of mutually agreed measures such as an effective exchange of incubation and acceleration programs and exchange of information on the attraction of local and foreign investors and etc.

According to the agreement reached within the memorandum signed with the "Startup Estonia" Center, the initial assessment of the regional applications sent to the “Startup Estonian Visa” program will be implemented in Azerbaijan. Startups applied to the relevant program from the regional countries such as Russia, Georgia, Mongolia, Iran, and Afghanistan will be initially assessed by the “INNOLAND” Incubation and Acceleration Center. Only startups that have successfully completed the initial stage will be able to move to the next stage of the program. This will play a significant role in attracting regional start-ups and projects to our country and increasing the success potential of the startup ecosystem.

The “Startup Estonian Visa” Program was established in 2017 on the joint initiative of the Estonian Startup Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Estonia. The main goal of the program is to facilitate the entry of successful startups and projects of non-EU countries to Estonia. Thus, successful startups sent their applications to the “Startup Estonian Visa” Program are provided with a special code through which the applicants and their team members may obtain a permit to live up to 5 years in Estonia.

On January 10, 2019, Memorandum of Understanding was signed between INNOLAND Incubation and Acceleration Center, Next Step Innovation Center and SUP Startap Accelerator.

The memorandum covers joint cooperation on the promotion of Incubation and Acceleration projects, the provision of co-working services, and the conduct of educational programs for startups. It also includes an exchange of information and involvement in the organization of other mutual events to attract local and foreign investors.

The importance of the incubation service in establishing a sustainable startup ecosystem in our country, as well as the role of the acceleration service in shaping new national startup brands outside the country.

In "INNOLAND" Incubation and Acceleration Center the seed round investment made into the "Nextsale" and "Whelp" startups, participants of the winter acceleration program of the SUP "Startap Accelerator.

The investment in these startups was implemented jointly by the "Azfinans" Investment Company, the "Next Step" Innovation Center and Khazar Ventures.