Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

A total of 121 projects were submitted to the fourth start-up competition for getting grants from Azerbaijan’s State Fund for Development of Information Technologies, a source in country’s IT market told Trend on September 2.

The selection of projects under the competition was held from July 1 to September 1, 2016.

The source informed that the project evaluation will be conducted within two stages. Initial examination will take 15 working days, while the second stage will last for 20 working days.

Independent experts will be involved in the comprehensive examination; and then the final decision will be taken at the level of the Supervisory Board of the State Fund.

“It is expected that a decision on funding of the projects will be made in early November,” the source said.

The State Fund identified 12 criteria that must be met by submitted projects. Criteria prescribe the projects to be clearly justified, have commercial potential, contribute to the development of the Azerbaijani ICT sector, be attractive in terms of investment, have socio-economic importance, be relevant in terms of innovative orientation, etc.

The State Fund’s maximum grant amount may be up to 300,000 manats ($180,000). The grant is valid for 36 months. Small grants are provided in the amount of 10,000-100,000 manats ($6,000-60,000), medium – 100,000-200,000 manats ($60,000-120,000), while large – 200,000-300,000 manats ($120,000-180,000).

Azerbaijan’s State Fund for Development of Information Technologies was created by the presidential decree dated March 15, 2012.

The main objectives of the Fund are conducting of the state policy on development and support of small enterprises in scientific-technical sphere, providing them with direct financial assistance, training, which in turn will contribute to the creation of new jobs in the country.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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