The semifinal stage of the “Digital Startup Awards” competition has been held in Azerbaijan

In partnership with “INNOLAND” Incubation and Acceleration Center and “Sabah Hub,” the Azerbaijani semifinal of the international “Digital Startup Awards” competition in the “Best Startup Project” category was successfully held.

Twenty innovative startup projects representing Azerbaijan took part in the semifinal. The startup teams presented their projects to the jury, where they were evaluated based on criteria such as business model, technological innovation, and market potential.

The “Digital Startup Awards” program is an international initiative that fosters a multi-level development mechanism within the region’s startup ecosystem and is distinguished by its stage-based selection process. In the “Best Startup Project” category—one of the three main stages of the program—two projects, “StarKidsStories” and “Tryverse,” were announced as winners.

“StarKidsStories” is an innovative startup that creates personalized children’s storybooks using artificial intelligence technologies. The project stands out for its scalable model and strong profit potential.

“Tryverse” is a platform that combines 3D and augmented reality (AR) technologies to enhance online sales of physical products.

These two startup projects have earned the opportunity to represent Azerbaijan in the international final to be held in Uzbekistan, where they will compete with the most promising startups from nine countries.

The startups selected for the semifinal stage were chosen from nearly 100 applications and evaluated by distinguished jury members and experts, including Dalerkhon Nodirov (Deputy Director of IT Park Ventures), Mubariz Shahbazli (Head of the UNEC Startup Incubator), and Masud Alisoy (Investment Specialist representing the Sabah Foundation). Mr. Elshad Mammadzada (Executive Director of Akademi Group), representing the INNOLAND Incubation and Acceleration Center, evaluated the EdTech startups as an expert judge in educational innovation.

Overall, more than 150 startups from Azerbaijan applied for the competition. The “Digital Startup Awards” program is organized by “StartupBase,” an innovation platform of IT Park Uzbekistan. The program aims to promote digital innovation, support the development of the startup ecosystem across Central Asia and the Caucasus, and create opportunities for young entrepreneurs to gain international recognition.

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.

INNOLAND’s resident successfully represented at the Digital Startup Awards 2025!

On December 12–13, the Grand Final of the international “Digital Startup Awards” program was held in Tashkent, jointly organized by the Ministry of Digital Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan, IT Park Uzbekistan and IT Park Ventures. The total prize fund of the program, one of the largest startup initiatives in the Central Eurasia region, amounted to 1 million USD.

Within the incubation program, our resident startup “Lingozy”, representing Azerbaijan, received a prize of 10,000 USD.

It should be noted that startups from Azerbaijan received a total of 70,000 USD in grants. In the acceleration program, the startup “Recepta” was awarded 50,000 USD, while “SnackPack AZ” earned 10,000 USD within the incubation program. Additionally, in the “Best Startup Project” category, Azerbaijani startups “StarkidStories” and “Tryverse” represented the country in the final stage. Other Azerbaijani startups that qualified for participation in the incubation program included “Crable”, “himate.az” and “OLSUN”.

The “Digital Startup Awards” program strengthened cooperation among regional startup ecosystems and contributed to increasing international recognition of Azerbaijani startups, opening new opportunities for their development.