The 6-week young entrepreneurs accelerator program Youth Inc. Business Academy has ended and the best business models have been presented by the participants in the Closing Ceremony.

The program proved to be very popular: from 690 applicants, 203 were shortlisted and the best 25 were specially selected to take part in the program. The 25 successful candidates then had the opportunity to develop essential business skills and pitch their ideas to investors from the USA and Azerbaijan, with the potential to raise investment of up to AZN 50,000.

The closing ceremony was held during Azerbaijan International Exhibition and Conference XXII, “Telecommunications and Information Technologies” (Bakutel-2016). At the event, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Intigam Babayev highlighted the importance of the program for the support of youth entrepreneurship. Deputy Minister of Communications and High Technologies Elmir Velizade noted that interest in this movement has grown rapidly, and the various sponsors are eager to continue supporting young innovators in the development of start-ups and technologies.

Financial Controller of Nobel Oil Services Zohrab Safarov expressed his satisfaction on the successful completion of the program. He noted that support of young entrepreneurs would always be of a high priority for the development of small- and medium-sized businesses in the country.

The accelerator program Youth Inc. Business Academy was hosted under the young entrepreneurs program Youth Inc., supported by Nobel Oil alongside Coca-Cola, the Ministry of Youth and Sport of Azerbaijan, NGO Debate in Civil Society (DVC), and the High-Tech Park of the Ministry of Communications and High Technologies.