How Armenia is trying to build a Silicon Valley in the Caucasus

In Armenia tech training begins early.

In a typical three-storey state faculty within the suburbs of Yerevan, the Armenian capital, nine-year previous Slavik is demonstrating his invention – a field with three LED lights.

“He has discovered easy methods to management it, and the programming language. You possibly can see the code is written by him,” says Maria, the 21-year-old tech coach main the category.

Subsequent to them, 14-year-old Eric and Narek are exhibiting their sensible greenhouse mannequin that displays temperature and controls followers robotically via a cell app.

Different kids are enthusiastically showcasing their innovations: video games, robots, apps and sensible house tasks.

Eleven-year-old Arakel is holding his cardboard mannequin of a home with a retractable clothesline.

“I’ve made my mom’s work simple, one a part of the system is ready on the roof, and one other is a motor,” he says. “When it rains the road goes beneath the roof to maintain the garments dry.”

These younger inventors have been attending engineering lab courses the place they study programming, robotics, coding, 3D modelling and extra.

The programme began in 2014, and is named Armath, which interprets into English as “root”. At this time there are 650 Armath labs in faculties throughout Armenia.

The initiative was established by a enterprise organisation known as the Union of Superior Know-how Enterprises (UATE), which represents greater than 200 high-tech Armenian firms.

“The imaginative and prescient is that we wish to see Armenia turning into a tech centre powerhouse that delivers utmost values to Armenia and to the world,” says Sarkis Karapetyan, the chief government of UATE.

In his spacious, open-plan workplace in Yerevan he says that there are actually round 4,000 tech firms in Armenia.

Armath is a part of the UATE’s training and workforce growth programme. Mr Karapetyan says the programme is probably the most profitable public-private partnership within the nation.

“We increase capital expenditure from the non-public sector, we go to the colleges and set up Armath labs, we donate the gear,” he says. “And the federal government, the training ministry offers us a finances of $2m (£1.5m) yearly to pay the salaries of the coaches.”

There are actually greater than 600 coaches, and 17,000 lively college students.

“The aim is to have 5,000 of probably the most gifted children determine to turn out to be engineers yearly,” says Mr Karapetyan.

Armenia is a landlocked nation of two.7 million individuals, the smallest within the South Caucasus area, and its borders with neighbouring Azerbaijan and Turkey have been shut for many years resulting from unresolved territorial disputes.

Not like its neighbours, Armenia doesn’t have pure sources or entry to the ocean. However all through the Soviet period it had been a centre of arithmetic and pc science.

In 1956 the Yerevan Scientific Analysis Institute of Mathematical Machines was established in Armenia and by 1960 it had developed two first technology computer systems.

At this time, the nation is tapping into its legacy with the ambition to remodel itself into the tech powerhouse of the Caucasus.

And there was some success already. Picsart, a AI-powered photograph and video enhancing web site and app, was launched in Armenia in 2011. At this time the corporate of the identical identify, which has twin headquarters in Yerevan and Miami, is valued at $1.5bn.

Krisp, which makes audio-processing software program, and Service Titan, which offers enterprise software program, are different Armenian success tales.

In the meantime, an annual report says that Armenia is the perfect nation within the Caucuses area through which to launch an organization, placing it in 57th place globally. This compares with Georgia in seventieth place, and Azerbaijan in eightieth.

A important think about boosting Armenia’s tech growth is the nation’s international diaspora – some 75% of the world’s estimated Armenians, and other people of Armenian descent, dwell elsewhere.

This worldwide neighborhood offers vital connections, particularly within the US tech business. Within the US there are as many as 1.6 million individuals of Armenian ancestry, centred on California.

Samvel Khachikyan, is director of packages at SmartGate, a enterprise capital agency based mostly in each California and Armenia that focuses on tech investments.

He says that in case you take a look at the highest 500 firms within the US, “for positive you may discover at the least one or two Armenians” within the boardroom or one administration stage under.

Mr Khachikyan explains how his firm helps Armenian entrepreneurs arrange operations within the US.

“Think about an Armenian start-up, two younger individuals deciding to go to the US to attempt to function there, they haven’t any connections, no information in regards to the tradition the way it works.

“It is gonna be arduous, very arduous. We’re serving to them, it is just like the launch of the rocket, the primary couple of seconds is the toughest.”

SmartGate takes Armenian founders to Silicon Valley and Los Angeles for intensive networking with prime US firms and buyers.

However many Armenian start-ups first take a look at their merchandise of their house market.

Irina Ghazaryan, is the founding father of an app known as Dr Yan that’s altering how Armenians entry healthcare by enabling them to extra simply ebook appointments with medical doctors.

Ms Ghazaryan was beforehand working in product and net design when, helped by the very fact she comes from a household of medical doctors, she recognized a niche out there. “Sufferers could not discover the fitting medical doctors, and medical doctors had been affected by infinite calls.”

The app operates on a subscription mannequin, with medical doctors paying to be listed on the platform, and there are plans to broaden.

“We’re rising at the least 25% income month by month,” provides Ms Ghazaryan. “We’re nearly break-even in Armenia and that provides us energy to begin increasing to different markets, like Uzbekistan.”

Armenia’s tech ecosystem obtained an surprising increase in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Hundreds of Russian IT specialists left their nation, and plenty of selected to settle in Armenia.

In the meantime, US chipmaking big Nvidia moved its Russian workplace to Armenia.

Vasily is a Russian IT marketing consultant who relocated to Armenia in 2023. “Armenia was probably the most pleasant to individuals from Russia with a view to assist them transfer, adapt and so forth,” he says.

He estimates that that the Russian IT neighborhood in Armenia now totals 5,000 to eight,000 individuals. This inflow has mentioned to have crammed essential ability gaps in Armenia’s tech sector, in areas corresponding to knowledge processing, cybersecurity, and monetary applied sciences.

But Vasily says that Armenia might be costly and the nation wants to scale back the tax burden on IT corporations if it needs them to remain within the nation.

Nonetheless, general optimism stays excessive about Armenia’s tech future. Samvel Khachikyan expects the sector to growth. He factors to Service Titan, which floated on the New York Inventory Trade final December, and is now value greater than $10bn.