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State IT Fund starts 3rd grant competition

5 October 2015 16:31 (UTC+04:00)
State IT Fund starts 3rd grant competition

By Nigar Orujova

The Azerbaijan State Fund for the Development of Information Technologies has begun to receive proposals for start-up projects as part of the third annual grant competition, the Fund said on October 2.

The process of submission is now simpler as the start-ups are able to upload their entries to the E-Qrant section on ictfund.gov.az.

Documents for participation in the competition will be accepted for a month from October 2 to November 2.

The third grant competition is open to individuals only.

The projects must meet the following requirement: when it comes to software development, the software must have the prospect of future development.

In addition, the development of innovative products should be supported by their prototypes. Projects should also be aimed at the development of innovation infrastructure and the commercialization of new technologies.

Projects aimed at creating a network infrastructure based on modern technologies as well as projects aimed at the expansion of IT and Internet-based services, can apply for financial support from the Fund.

The startup movement is now developing quickly in Azerbaijan and the government sponsors such projects, especially in the sphere of high technologies.

The State Fund for Information Technologies Development was established in March 2012 to carry out state policy on the development and support of small enterprises in science and technology, providing them with direct financial assistance and training, which in turn will contribute to the creation of new jobs.

The State Fund allocates small, medium, and large loans to finance projects. The interest rate on the loans does not exceed 5 percent per annum.

The maximum grant amount is 300,000 manats for 36 months. Small grants are provided from 10,000 manats to 100,000 manats, medium grants from 100,000 to 200,000 manats, and large grants from 200,000 manats to 300,000 manats.

The State Fund for the Development of Information Technologies has allocated 4.6 million manats for financing IT projects in Azerbaijan in 2014. A part of these funds were given to 12 entrepreneurs specializing in the field of information and communication technologies, in the form of soft loans.

Another part of the state financing in the form of grants was allocated for the implementation of 31 startup projects.

Over 190 start-up projects participated in the first start-ups contest to obtain grant funding in early 2014. Some 65 start-up projects were represented in the second competition in late 2014.

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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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