Next startup tour under �From Idea to Business� supported by Azercell to be held in Sumgait

Aiming to support the expansion of the startup movement and the realization of citizens" innovative idea, "From Idea to Business" projects continues its startup tours. The next tour will be held on September 21st from 08.30 till 17.00 at Haydar Aliyev Center in Sumgait city. In order to join the tour, please follow the link below to get registered: http://www.i2b.azResidents of regions and cities in the neighborhood may also join the startup tour. With "Azercell Telecom" LLC acting as the partner, the project is conducted by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, jointly with Public Association "Regional Development" of Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the company Microsoft, within the framework of the project "From Idea to Business". Info sessions, interactive parts, competitions and trainings on different topics are planned to be conducted within the startup tours. In the first part of the event, small business trainings will be organized to prepare startups for the main competition, and in the second part, startups will present their ideas to the jury. Then the selected projects will compete for the first place. After each presentation, the authors will answer questions and the project will be discussed. At the end of the second part, the jury will announce the top three winners in Sumgait, who will be eligible to participate in the National Finals in Baku.

It should be noted that the winners may be provided with the mentor support, fundraising opportunities, as well as sending successful startups abroad and participation in international events.

Notably, "Barama" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center was established in 2009 by Azercell Telecom LLC with a view to boost business innovation and develop a digital and entrepreneurial ecosystem. With the major goal to help startups to build their businesses, provide modern services and attract new customers, Barama Center has been supported by PASHA Bank, one of the leading companies in the country, since 2015. Over 80 projects were launched in Barama as professional business incubator during past 9 years. 20 of such projects are currently operating as stand-alone companies.

For more information, please contact news@mcs.az

The leader of the mobile communication industry, the largest taxpayer and the biggest investor of the non-oil sector of Azerbaijan Azercell Telecom LLC was founded in 1996. With 48% share of Azerbaijan"s mobile telecom market Azercell"s network covers 80% of the territory (excluding 20% of the occupied territories) and 99.8% of population of the country. Currently, 4.5 million subscribers choose Azercell services. Azercell has pioneered an important number of innovations in Azerbaijan, including GSM technology, advance payment system, mobile internet services, Metro coverage, 24/7 call centre service, 7 day/week Front Office service, M2M services, one-stop-shopping approach Azercell Express offices, mobile customer services, Online Customer Care and Social Media Customer Care services, mobile e-signature service "ASAN Imza" etc. Azercell deployed first 4G - LTE services in Azerbaijan in 2012. According to the results of mobile network quality and wireless coverage mapping surveys by international systems, Azercell"s network demonstrated the best results among the mobile operators of Azerbaijan. Azercell is the only company in Azerbaijan and CIS region which has been awarded Gold Certificate of International "Investors in People" Standard.®