Georgia: The Georgian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Levan Davitashvili gave a speech at the presentation event on the results of the National Innovation Ecosystem project. At the event, hosted by the Innovation and Technology Agency of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, five years of supporting the Georgian startup ecosystem and projects implemented with the support of the World Bank.
According to the minister, the startup ecosystem support mechanism has been formed in Georgia from scratch.
“The National Innovation Ecosystem Project is over, but this project does not end in supporting the startup ecosystem in our country, on the contrary, we will be very active – the state has many plans, goals and objectives to further promote the development of innovation and technology in the country,” the Vice Prime Minister said in his speech.
The project has been running since 2018 – with World Bank financial assistance; till date, 186 projects have been funded, more than 40,000 beneficiaries have received assistance, and more than 3,000 jobs have been created.
In addition, as the Minister of Economy noted, the government has introduced one of the most important accelerators in the country – “500 startups”, several stages of the program have already been successfully completed and will continue to finance new startups, and innovative ideas in the future.
It is noteworthy that a number of Georgian startups created and supported within the framework of the project have gone to the international market and are successfully operating. Levan Davitashvili thanked both the World Bank team and the startups themselves for their support and participation in the project.
The World Bank Regional Director in South Caucasus, Sebastian Molineus, also spoke at the event.
At the presentation Avtandil Kasradze, the head of the Innovation and Technology Agency of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, focused on an issue of vital importance for the development of the innovation ecosystem – the involvement of private investors and financing of Georgian startups. It also awarded startups that stood out in various nominations.
