Nearly 200 start-ups participate in fund contest
By Nigar Orujova
Over 190 start-ups projects participated in a start-ups contest, held by State Fund for Development of Information Technology, to obtain grant funding.
The Fund is summarizing the result of the contest at present, Fund's head Elchin Zeynalov said.
Registration for participation in the competition was held for a month, from April 2 to May 2, during which 193 projects were presented to the Fund.
The projects submitted for the contest will be assessed by an expert group based on the previously approved criteria of the Supervisory Board of the Fund.
The evaluation of the projects will be conducted in accordance with 12 criteria, and those that score eight points or more will be submitted to the Board for funding.
"The contest's results will be announced in the next 40 days," Zeynalov said.
Loan financing
The Fund is making preparations for the credit financing of the IT-projects, which will start in the second half of May, Zeynalov said.
Financing will be available for all individuals and legal entities that comply with the Fund's requirements. The grants allocation mechanisms and range of projects that can be funded are available on the webpage of the Fund at ictfund.gov.az.
The state budget allocated 5 million manats to financing start-up projects in 2014. The first tranche of 2.5 million manats has been already allocated to the Fund, while the second tranche is expected to be delivered in the near future.
Giving small, medium, and large loans and grants by the Fund is envisaged for financing the projects. Every Azerbaijani citizen can avail himself of the advantages of the ICT Fund's financing.
The applicants for soft loans can apply to the authorized agents of the State Fund, which are "Pasha Bank", "Bank Respublika", "Demir Bank", "Rabita Bank", and "BTB Bank".
Along with supporting entrepreneurship, the Fund will also provide start-up participants with the necessary consulting services.