Yerevan, Armenia – The Global Entrepreneurship Network is excited to announce the opening of a new Startup Huddle chapter in Yerevan, Armenia, to support the growth of the local startup community while crowdsourcing advice and support for its entrepreneurs. The chapter will be hosted and organized by Nejdeh Hovanessian, the Assistant Director at Entrepreneurship and Product Innovation Center (EPIC) of American University of Armenia (AUA). Yerevan joins a global network of more than 60 Startup Huddle chapters worldwide and will host its first event on September 29, 2023.
In addition to providing direct support to entrepreneurs, the Startup Huddle program addresses a critical element of success for all entrepreneur ecosystems – connectivity. According to GEN research, startup communities with higher levels of local connectedness translate to an increased number of startups – and that founders with high levels of connectivity grow their revenue twice as fast as those with lower levels.
Nejdeh Hovanessian shares his insights, "We truly believe in the power of togetherness. The talks will help to bring people together and create strong ties in our ecosystem. With the evolving startup ecosystem in Armenia, this platform will foster a diverse and inclusive community, highlighting entrepreneurs from all walks of life and helping solve major challenges faced by growing businesses in Yerevan."
At each Startup Huddle event, local founders give six-minute presentations outlining challenges facing their companies. Each presentation is followed by a 20-minute conversation with an audience of peers, mentors, educators, and advisers who provide constructive criticism focused on finding solutions and increasing founder know-how. With new founders cycling through each gathering, and previous presenters joining the audience to give back, the community continues to expand while connections deepen.
Looking ahead, Nejdeh adds, "We hope to have a long-term sustainable community who will eagerly wait for the day of the month to come to our events and exchange new ideas with each other. Inviting startup founders and many others in our ecosystem, we aim to nurture an environment where knowledge and experiences are shared, fueling success."
Startup Huddle Yerevan is supported by the Entrepreneurship and Product Innovation Center (EPIC) of American University of Armenia (AUA). Visit the Startup Huddle Yerevan website to join an upcoming event or join other chapter events by visiting, www.startuphuddle.co.
About Startup Huddle
Run by the Global Entrepreneurship Network in partnership with local organizers, Startup Huddle is a program designed to help one entrepreneur at a time while strengthening the local ecosystem. Entrepreneurs discover challenges to the solutions they face through purposeful engagement with a broad array of voices from their local community. Currently, there are local Startup Huddle chapters in more than 50 cities around the world. For more information, visit www.startuphuddle.co.
About the Global Entrepreneurship Network
The Global Entrepreneurship Network operates projects and programs in 200 countries to make it easier for anyone, anywhere to start and scale a business. By fostering deeper cross border collaboration and initiatives between entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers and entrepreneurial support organizations, GEN works to fuel healthier start and scale ecosystems that create more jobs, educate individuals, accelerate innovation and strengthen economic growth. For more information, visit www.genglobal.org.