About GEN in Azerbaijan

Baku

The Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) has been active in Azerbaijan since the early years of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW). As the entrepreneurial ecosystem matured, a succession of local partners led the national campaign. From the mid-2010s, Debate in Civil Society led the campaign until the Youth Entrepreneurship Project took over in 2019. Today, GEN Azerbaijan operates as the country’s national affiliate under the leadership of Managing Director Seymur Huseynov, coordinating an expanded portfolio of programs that connect Azerbaijani founders, policymakers, and ecosystem builders to GEN’s global network.

GEW in Azerbaijan has grown into a national rallying point for entrepreneurs and the institutions that support them. Each November, the campaign brings together a diverse set of partners to host activities ranging from seminars and skills workshops to startup pitch events. In 2022, for example, the Azerbaijan Entrepreneurs Confederation (ASK) launched the campaign with a seminar on the certification of international carriers in road transport, demonstrating the breadth of sectors engaged through the week. The Women’s National Business Agenda organized events during GEW, helping place women’s entrepreneurship at the center of the national conversation.

A significant moment for GEN in Azerbaijan came in November 2024, when Baku hosted COP29 on the eve of Global Entrepreneurship Week. GEN Azerbaijan supported the gathering, and GEN’s founder and president, Jonathan Ortmans, addressed the international audience with a message focused on the role of startups, new firms, and deep technology in accelerating de-carbonization — highlighting the progress green tech founders are making across the planet. The convergence of COP29 and GEW underscored the country’s ambition to position Baku at the intersection of sustainability, innovation, and entrepreneurship policy.

Baku is home to a Startup Huddle chapter — GEN’s peer-driven program of monthly meetups designed to help local founders refine their ideas and build community. In addition, GEN Azerbaijan delivers specialized capacity building with support from local and international organizations.

With the Ministry of Culture, GEN Azerbaijan is delivering a marketing culture certification program for founders in the creative industries. The 10-seminar course on business and marketing planning includes a dedicated training manual developed by GEN. The initial cohort kicked off in 2024 with 40 entrepreneurs, ranging from first-time founders to those with more than 30 years of experience in the sector.

With the Ministry of Economy, GEN Azerbaijan launched the Azerbaijan Skills Accelerator in November 2025. The initiative focuses on closing high-growth skills gaps and building a stronger talent pipeline for the local economy. With support from the European Union, the EU4Business and Collaborate for Impact programs offer technical assistance and mentoring tailored to social entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan, while Startup School 4 provides participants a hands-on grounding in market sizing, innovation strategy, and investor pitching, delivered by international mentors.

In partnership with KOBIA, the country’s small and medium business development agency, GEN Azerbaijan is implementing two funded programs. The first surveys Azerbaijan’s entrepreneurship stakeholders to develop a live, interactive ecosystem map housed on the KOBIA portal and linked to the GEN Azerbaijan website. GEN plans to extend the currently Azeri-only platform to an English-language version for international users.

GEN offers Azeri founders opportunities to gain access to international markets and win prizes through global pitch competitions. For example, Shirvan Wines won the Azerbaijan national finals of the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) and went on to represent the country in the global EWC competition, accessing free training resources, a virtual bootcamp, and exposure to international investors and mentors.

GEN maintains extensive relationships with key Azerbaijani ecosystem stakeholders, including the Azerbaijan Entrepreneurs Confederation (ASK) — the country’s long-established national business association founded in 1999 — the ASAN Innovation Centre, the Innovation Agency under the Ministry of Transport and Digital Development, KOBIA, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Culture, and Sabah Hub. Together, these partners help anchor GEN’s programming in Azerbaijan across policy, skills, finance, and founder support.

Beyond GEN President Jonathan Ortmans’ engagement at COP29, GEN Azerbaijan’s leadership team has worked to strengthen the country’s international connections — building bridges between Azerbaijani founders, ecosystem builders, and the broader GEN community of more than 200 countries. GEN’s ongoing mission in Azerbaijan is to deepen those linkages, expand opportunities for local founders to access global opportunities, and support ecosystem builders working to make entrepreneurship a driver of inclusive growth across the country.