Azerbaijani startups returned to the Czech Republic to compete at the V4ATB Brno Demo Day

• The Czech Republic has closed its second chapter of the V4 Azerbaijan Tech Bridge (V4ATB) project
• In cooperation with the leading players of the V4 startup ecosystem, a new group of selected Azerbaijani startups virtually competed in Brno to secure their spot in the semi-final
• After almost half a year since the previous Prague chapter, Azerbaijani solutions once again attracted the attention of domestic and international investors

Since the beginning of the first-ever program strengthening the cooperation between the Visegrad Group and Azerbaijan in the field of innovation, the program has attracted dozens of startups to every chapter. The V4 Azerbaijan Tech Bridge program in Brno has completed its second and final Czech chapter and is approaching its finale.

In collaboration with program partner AI Startup Incubator, the Brno chapter brought together a group of Czech business, startup, and VC experts who guided the startups through four workshops and evaluated the startups, sending the winner of the chapter directly to the virtual semi-finals in Ganja city.

Brno Chapter mentors and speakers:

• Pavlína Louženská - Lead Mentor for Europe and Africa at Google for Startups EU, Founder at #HolkyzMarketingu
• Guillermo Alda - Partner and Head of AI Business at Etnetera
• Mike Handa - Business Consultant and Performance Coach at MikeHanda.com, BNI Global
• Aleš Míka - VC Investment Professional, Senior Project Manager at BNP Paribas Cardif
• Beáta Vörösová - Director of Startup Department at CzechInvest

"I believe the V4ATB program and its format allowed for an interesting glimpse into the Azerbaijan startup scene - an underserved region- giving them first-hand knowledge and information in terms of scaling abroad."

Aleš Míka, mentor at the VA4TB Brno Chapter

Azerbaijani startups pitching at the V4ATB Brno Demo Day

At the beginning of the Demo Day in Brno, the representative of the Czech Embassy in Baku, Klára Zeldová, greeted the participants on behalf of Ambassador Milan Sedláček. The Czech Embassy in Baku is the permanent contact office of the International Visegrad Fund. In her speech, Klára Zeldová expressed her pleasure in the interest of the young citizens of Azerbaijan in cooperation with Visegrad partners.

"Innovation and tighter connections between young entrepreneurs and experts in the region are a traditional priority of the V4. The interest of young people in cooperation in the field of innovative technologies shows us the form and direction of future cooperation for the coming years."

Klára Zeldová, representative of the Czech Embassy in Baku

From close to 30 registered Azerbaijani startups, ten teams were selected to pitch their solutions at the Brno Chapter Demo Day. The selected startups were Botbox Pro, Dataforest, GURU, FluSi, PayGo, Rihand MMC, SmogFree, IMAJINN, Min-Sür, and YAZL.

After the jury's evaluation, the winner of the chapter is Rihand, a digital portfolio platform for beauty salons and beauty experts.

"In order to be successful, startups are beginning to realize that it is not enough to simply focus on the domestic market. Azerbaijani companies can use the Czech Republic and its fantastic cities of Prague and Brno as a stepping stone into Europe," says Angelo Burgarello, Business Director and Partner at AI Startup Incubator.

20 most promising startups from all chapters will compete in a virtual semi-final this spring in Ganja. Afterward, the program is awaiting its in-person Grand Final in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, in June 2023.

V4ATB is initiated by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Baku and powered by Startup Hub Poland Foundation in partnership with Azerbaijani IdealHub, Czech AI Startup Incubator, Hungarian CEU iLab and Startup Győr, and Slovak CIVITTA. V4ATB is sponsored by the V4 governments through the International Visegrad Fund. Notably, V4 Azerbaijan Tech Bridge organizers introduce the first networking platform for experts and partners from the Visegrad Group and Azerbaijan.