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EPIC Co-Hosts Startup School Yerevan’s Winter 2021 Demo Day

YEREVAN, Armenia — On December 19, 2021, the Entrepreneurship and Product Innovation Center (EPIC) of the American University of Armenia (AUA) co-hosted the Winter 2021 Demo Day organized by Startup School Yerevan, an entrepreneurship education program launched by Startup Armenia Foundation. The initiative aims at preparing 10-17-year-old teenage entrepreneurs to enter the startup ecosystem. The Startup School Yerevan successfully concluded with the Winter 2021 Demo Day, during which seven teams of aspiring entrepreneurs presented their business ideas. 

The event commenced with opening speeches by Arsen Harutunyan, CEO of the Startup Armenia Foundation, Hakob Hakobyan, co-founder of Startup Armenia Foundation, and Nejdeh Hovanessian, assistant director of EPIC. In his opening remarks, Hovanessian mentioned: “Today’s event is different from our standard Demo Days because the participating teams are not university students or alumni. They are teenagers who have gone through the Startup School’s eight-month program, learning to look at the world not as ‘consumers,’ but as ‘”creators.’” Following the opening remarks, Hovanessian also participated in the panel discussion on the importance of entrepreneurship education in teenagers’ lives.

The seven idea-stage startups founded by teenagers presented their innovative business ideas and successfully answered challenging questions from members of the jury. The event culminated with the distribution of awards to the winning teams based on the jury’s evaluation.

The team Lyricio was awarded the opportunity to participate in the EPIC Spring 2022 Incubation Program. The team members were delighted to get the prize and look forward to starting a new venture with EPIC. Lyricio aims at creating a platform that will connect professional, certified translators with clients to develop productive cooperation between them.