The co-founders of Orion Worldwide Innovations, Emma Arakelyan (second from left) and Diana Arzumanyan (center left) with Armenia's Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan (far left) and representatives of Armenia's Ministry of Economy at the Orion Summit 2023 held in New York
Last year, when the first international Orion Summit was held in Yerevan, founder of Orion Worldwide Innovations Emma Arakelyan promised that the next summit would be held in New York. Today, about a hundred participants of Orion Summit 2023 from business, finance and information technology fields are discussing in New York how to make Armenia more attractive for global investment.
“New York is the center of finance, the center of capital. Today, Armenia has reached the stage when it is necessary not only to increase the number and volume of investments, but also to work on cooperation between Armenia and other countries: investments should not only come to Armenia, but Armenian capital should also position Armenia abroad as an innovative, developing country with great future,” said Emma Arakelyan.
Founder of Orion Worldwide Innovations Emma Arakelyan delivering remarks at the summit
The event is co-organized by the Ministry of Economy of Armenia, and Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan also arrived in New York to participate in the summit.
“The title of the summit is “Investments position Armenia.” Last year, significant changes were registered in Armenia in terms of attracting investments, and foreign direct investment amounted to $1 billion, while the volume of total investment was $4.2 billion,” the minister said.
Minister of Economy of the Republic of Armenia Vahan Kerobyan delivering remarks at the summit
These figures, he said, are encouraging, but so far this is only the beginning of a long journey that will make it possible to really change the structure of the country’s economy. According to the minister, recently there have been frequent discussions with foreign investors on how to create new “channels” that will help attract new investments to Armenia. Orion Summit 2023, in his opinion, will become a favorable platform for the meeting of startups and investors and will help establish new business ties between them. The event will also help create a toolkit, thanks to which investments will flow to Armenia in a new volume.
“The participation of the government and leading companies in the summit will significantly increase the interest of venture companies in Armenia and Armenian startups and strengthen our position in the work with international investment companies, venture funds, and angel investors,” said Diana Arzumanyan, co-founder of Orion Worldwide Innovations Armenia.
On the first day, the participants of the summit visited the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech University and discussed a number of issues related to innovation and investment. Fernando Gomez-Baquero, director of the Runway and Spinouts program, led a tour of this flagship campus on Roosevelt Island. His research focuses on advanced nanomaterials for energy storage, the economic impact of nanotechnology, and technology entrepreneurship. Jacobs was founded by the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and the American Cornell University, which ranks 20th in the world university rankings.
Co-founders of Orion Worldwide Innovations Armenia, Emma Arakelyan and Diana Arzumanyan, with Armenia’s Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan (center) at the 2023 summit
Rene Nalbandian, Head of International Relations and Strategic Growth at the New York City Hall, Rene Nalbandian, Head of Strategic and Sustainable Investments at Bank of America, Vice President of Goldman Sachs and many other influential guests, will present their vision of increasing the investment attractiveness of Armenia within the next four days at Orion Summit 2023. .
One of the speakers at the event will be financial regulatory advisor Jeff Ingber, who has held senior positions at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Citibank, and the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation. Jeff Ingber will share his extensive knowledge and experience during his session, “Why Startups Fail?”
Beth Xie, Associate Director of Endless Frontier Labs at New York University’s Stern School of Business, will join a panel discussion entitled “Technology and Finance Industries Investment and Innovation priorities.”
Another interesting speaker, Sebouh Nahabedian, Managing Director of the Credit and Structured Solutions Group at Francisco Partners, will share his observations during the panel discussion “Digital Julfa Network to position Armenian innovation, science and economy.”
Orion Worldwide Innovations is a startup growth and ecosystem acceleration hub and offers a full-service package to make companies investable and enter the US market, enhance their customer acquisition strategies, stay competitive, and protect their innovation. Orion is a U.S.-based company that was formed in 2017, with offices in New York City, U.S., and Yerevan, Armenia, though Orion partners with companies and investor networks worldwide.