A number of innovative events are also planned to be held this year within the framework of the project “From Idea to Business”, the implementation of which began in 2018. Large-scale startup tours covering Baku city and selected regions of the country will be organized with the view of supporting the expansion of the startup movement and implementing new innovative ideas of citizens in 2019.

The next stage of startup tours “From idea to business”, which are implemented by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies jointly with Public Association “Regional Development” of Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Azerbaijan Youth Foundation, the United Nations Development Programme, companies Azercell and Microsoft, will start on February 21 in Mingachevir city.  Residents with innovative ideas from surrounding areas can also participate in the first startup tour of the current year.

Throughout the year, startup tours will be held in Sabirabad, Sumgayit, Ganja, Goychay, Nakhchivan, Baku, Lankaran, Zagatala, Tovuz, Shamakhy and Shaki.

As part of the startup tour, information sessions, competitions and trainings covering various topics will be held for participants.

In the first part of the event, small business trainings will be organized to prepare startups for the main competition, and in the second part, they will present their ideas to the jury. Then the selected projects will compete for the championship. After each presentation, the authors will answer the questions and the project will be discussed. At the end of the second part, the jury will announce the winners of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places for each region. The winning projects will gain the right to participate in the National Finals to be held in Baku.

Winners of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in the National Final will be awarded by the organizers and partners, and financial support will be provided to them to turn their ideas into a business.

To participate in startup tours, you need to register at http://www.i2b.az.

It should be noted that last year, within the framework of the project “From Idea to Business,” startup tours were held in 8 regions, 16 institutions of higher education, 3 general educational institutions of the country. During seven months, more than 2 thousand people from various cities and regions of the country took part in the startup marathon. In general, 75 teams participated in the tours, 13 of which received the right to participate in the national final.

In the final, 3 startups became winners, 4 more projects were awarded by partners of the project “From Idea to Business”.