03/03/2026
🚀 On 24 February Advice for Small Businesses Azerbaijan hosted the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Azerbaijan Pitch Event, where nine local start-ups shortlisted from a wider pool of applicants pitched to join the next Star Venture cohort in Azerbaijan.
A huge thank you to all participating teams for the energy, preparation, and ambition you brought to the session. It was inspiring to see the quality of ideas and the drive to scale!
👏We are also very grateful to our jury members for their time and thoughtful feedback:
• Agahuseyn Ahmadov, Head of Investments, IDDA
• Gunay Imanzada, Founding CEO of Metatesk, Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree (and Metatesk is a start-up supported by the Star Venture programme)
• Nijat Amiraslanov, Director, Innoland Incubation & Acceleration Center
• Ibrahim Nasibov, Investment Analyst & Country Representative, White Hill Capital
For those new to Star Venture: it’s a 24-month scaling programme supporting selected start-ups through business diagnostics (delivered in partnership with the University of Cambridge), tailored business advisory, world-class mentoring (a network of 1,500+ mentors), access to finance (pitch events, fundraising advisory, investor introductions), access to market, and cloud credits in partnership with leading technology providers Amazon and Microsoft.
⏳ The selection process will continue over the coming days, and results will be announced soon. Wishing all start-ups the very best of luck!
The Star Venture programme in Azerbaijan is supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) Embassy of Switzerland to Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan