Georgia’s tech startup ecosystem needs growth, adaptation - Asian Development Bank
ADB acknowledged Government programmes were providing grants to secure early stages of startups, however it noted startups required capital investments as they grew and highlighted venture capital and non-financial support in Georgia as being in their “infancy”. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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The Georgian technology startup is seeing an ecosystem emerge for the field in the country, however it needs “growth, refinement and adaptation”, a new report by the Asian Development Bank said on Thursday.
The report from the Bank, a social development organisation with focus on Asia and the Pacific, is entitled Georgia’s Emerging Ecosystem for Technology Startups and offers an overview of the emerging sector in the country.
Financial technology and e-commerce startups in Georgia overshadow development of “high-impact” startups in education, healthcare, agriculture, and environmental protection, it said, adding the latter were developing at a slower pace but were “especially important” for their contribution to human capital development, agricultural productivity and climate change mitigation.
ADB acknowledged Government programmes were providing grants to secure early stages of startups, however it noted startups required capital investments as they grew and highlighted venture capital and non-financial support in Georgia as being in their “infancy”.
The report also said the Government grant programmes, international organisations and private companies provided assistance to entrepreneurs and startups by offering special conditions to technology companies that work for international clients, but added “these benefits are not generally utilised by startups”.
“Research and development of new technologies must be strengthened so that startups can commercialise new ideas,” Paul Vandenberg, ADB Principal Economist and the report’s co-author said, noting startups needed to conduct market research for better understanding of what product or service was expected to be in demand.
Small startups in Georgia have been urged to submit business ideas to the latest edition of a grant programme from the country’s Innovation and Technology Agency, with the chance of gaining $56,611 in co-financing support.
Thirteen companies from various countries including Georgia on Friday pitched their ideas to potential investors at an event hosted by 500 Global, a startup accelerator programme, the Georgian Innovation and Technology Agency said.
Touch Summit, the largest technology conference in the South Caucasus region, opened today under the roof of Rustaveli Theatre in Tbilisi, where speakers representing innovative companies from across the world including Google, Revolut, Nike, Tesla, Siemens, Porsche and Bolt took to the stage to share experience and participate in panel discussions during the two-day event.
Projects for improving efficiency in small and medium-sized businesses, reducing cost of management, promoting healthy lifestyle and more have been unveiled as winners of the Georgian Innovation and Technology Agency’s grant programme.
Georgian startupper Ana Robakidze, the founder and CEO of an AI platform Theneo on Friday won a Pitch contest at the world’s largest technology event, Web Summit 2022 in Lisbon among 2,300 startups, representing hundreds of countries worldwide, the Web Summit announced.
Georgian Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili on Tuesday highlighted efforts being made by the Government to support the development of information technology and startup ecosystem in the country.
Georgian Deputy Economy Minister Irakli Nadareishvili on Thursday said development of the domestic capital market was a priority for the Georgian Government and related to one of structural reforms of his Ministry.
Enterprise Georgia, an export promotion agency of the country, on Thursday revealed 1,176 winners of its micro and small entrepreneurship grant programme.
The Georgian Innovation and Technology Agency on Tuesday said the Web Summit technology conference, running this week in Lisbon, was featuring Georgian companies with the support of the Agency and Enterprise Georgia, the state agency promoting entrepreneurship, investment and exports.