Armenia has moved 5 spots up to be ranked at 60th globally in StartupBlink’s annual Global Startup Ecosystem Index Report 2022.
Armenia continues to be 1st in the Caucasus region, with more than double the total score of Georgia, the 2nd in the region, suggesting Armenia will continue to hold this position in the near future.
With Yerevan as Armenia’s only ranked city, the country’s ranking depends greatly on its capital city. In 2022, Yerevan entered the top 250 city ranking globally. Yerevan has seen a major jump, improving by 38 spots to 244th globally, and reversing its declining momentum from 2021.
This increase pushed Yerevan up the ladder in Eastern Europe, where it is now ranked 19th, versus 29th in 2021. Yerevan is the highest ranking city in the Caucasus region, with a safe margin. Its score is more than double Tbilisi’s score, and more than triple Baku’s score.
“As a landlocked country with restricted land access due to tensions with Turkey and Azerbaijan, the Armenian ecosystem manages to show true resilience. The Armenian government has long understood innovation is critical to the future of the country, and resources have been allocated to grow the ecosystem. In 2021, the tech sector in Armenia flourished, with new investments fueling growth,” the report reads.
It reminds that the country’s first unicorn, PicsArt, recently reached a US$1 billion valuation. Moreover, the Armenian startup scene has seen growth in terms of entrepreneurship and tech development, with companies like Shadowmatic and YerevaNN receiving praise for designing deep learning technologies.
“A strong and successful Armenian diaspora is also supporting the Armenian economy, and several highly successful American entrepreneurs of Armenian origin, like Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, are working to boost the local startup ecosystem. Armenian startups are built to target the global market from inception due to the small market size of the country. Armenia has a population of only 3 million people, but offers a sizable amount of tech talent. Additionally, the Armenian government does a great job of supporting tech startups, including tax incentives,” the report says.
“To support foreign investment, Armenia established Free Economic Zones and full ownership among other incentives under the legal framework On Foreign Investments. During the past few years, Armenia made significant progress in reducing bureaucracy and corruption. While the Armenian startup ecosystems are still in their early stages and the country has work to do to recover from its turbulent past, there is substantial untapped potential waiting to come to the surface,” it continues.
Since 2017, the index offers policymakers and startup ecosystem stakeholders insights into their startup economy, unveiling trends and momentum. The index is also used as a tool by founders and investors trying to discover the best ecosystems.
This year’s report ranks the startup ecosystems of 1,000 cities and 100 countries, and features several new sections and an improved algorithm.