3N Startups

Noubar Afeyan and Moderna Honored with National Medal of Technology and Innovation by the President of the United States Dr. Noubar Afeyan, Co-Founder and Board Chairman of Moderna, and Founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, has been awarded the prestigious National Medal of Technology and Innovation by Dr. Arati Prabhakar, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). The award ceremony was held on January 3, 2025, at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. This honor recognizes Moderna’s groundbreaking contributions to biotechnology, particularly the development of mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccines, which played a critical role in combating the global Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to his achievements in biotechnology, Dr. Afeyan is a visionary philanthropist who has co-founded initiatives such as Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST), Aurora Prize and many others to support Armenia’s scientific, cultural, and humanitarian development. Join us in celebrating this well-deserved recognition of Dr. Afeyan’s global contributions to innovation and his lasting impact on biotechnology and beyond. 🌟

The 2024 for the Armenian Startup Ecosystem was quite a year with ServiceTitan’s IPO, cumulative around $700M worth of capital raised across 26 deals, the launch of Perceptron AI, global Tumo Center for Creative Technologies expansion, new laws streamlining startup growth, and Plug and Play Tech Center’s first acceleration batch in Armenia. 👉 Read more about these and other news in our annual recap! A heartfelt thank you to Ashot Arzumanyan, Sona Veziryan, Hrant Khachatrian, Narine Davtian and Samson Avetian for their invaluable contributions. BANA Angels Science and Technology Angels Network (STAN) Angel Investor Club of Armenia (AICA) Triple S Ventures Granatus Ventures BigStory VC Formula VC SmartGateVC Podcastle Activeloop EasyDMARC Lago HerculesAI SuperAnnotate IC Armenia Mkhitar Hayrapetyan Aram Jivanyan Ministry of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia

Armine Galstyan, a Principal at SmartGateVC discusses her journey of a young Armenian woman supporting Deep Tech Founders in the Forbes article by Melissa Houston, CPA. Here are the key takeaways shared by Armine: 1) Pre-seed companies often require mentorship, technical insight, and a clear roadmap. 2) It is important for investors to ask right questions: - Do the founders have the right expertise? - Is the IP and technology meaningful? - Can we add value? 3) The goal to become a partner in their success, not a mere investor. 4) Building ecosystems is critical: - Hero House is the space (Yerevan and in LA) where founders, researchers, and investors exchange ideas and build lasting connections. - The impact lies in the sense of founder community, where challenges are shared, and victories are celebrated. 👉 Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/dyV4vQGB

StartupBlink has published its #AIStartupEcosystemsReport showcasing the top globally ranked Countries and Cities. Read the report here: https://lnkd.in/eSHFDQNx Spoiler Alert: Armenia and Yerevan are not in the list. Key takeaways include: 1) Investment Trends: No surprise to learn that venture capital is heavily flowing into AI startups. 2) Talent Development: The success of AI ecosystems is closely linked to the availability of skilled professionals. Investing in education and training programs is crucial for nurturing local talent. 3N comment: Initiatives like Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST)'s #GenerationAI which are aimed at supercharging education aimed at AI age have a critical importance for Armenia. Read the Generation AI concept here: https://lnkd.in/enGqDnDx 3) Government Support: Proactive government policies, including funding initiatives and regulatory frameworks, play a significant role in accelerating AI innovation. 3N comment: The Ministry of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia HTI has been developing its strategy since 2019 and the work is still in progress. While we appreciate strategic approach and importance of the strategy, we want to emphasize that market will not wait for the strategy and those who are faster and smarter will outcompete us.   4) Collaborative Ecosystems: The report underscores the value of collaboration among startups, corporations, research institutions, and investors to drive AI advancements. For Armenia, these insights suggest focusing on developing AI talent, attracting investments, and fostering collaborations to enhance its AI startup ecosystem. The role of the Armenian Diaspora would be critical here to implement those programs effectively.

ServiceTitan Files for IPO ⚡ On Monday, Nov 18, ServiceTitan filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker ‘TTAN.’ Founded in 2012 by first-generation Diaspora Armenians Ara Mahdessian and Vahe Kuzoyan, ServiceTitan is a Glendale, California-based cloud platform specializing in software solutions for trade businesses, particularly contractors in HVAC, plumbing, and electrical services. ServiceTitan, valued at $9.5 billion following its 2021 funding round, has more than 12,000 customers and more than 3500 employees across Glendale, Atlanta, and Yerevan. What a week for the Armenian startup ecosystem! 👏 Congratulations to ServiceTitan for achieving this milestone and we look forward to hearing next steps from this process! Photo & Information Source: Zartonk Media

SuperAnnotate has successfully closed a $36M #SeriesB funding round! The round is led by Socium Ventures, with support from NVIDIA, Databricks Ventures, Lionel Messi's Play Time Ventures, Glynn Capital, and existing investors. This investment will fuel startup's growth and their position as a leader in enterprise GenAI dataset creation, management, and orchestration. 🚀 👏 Congratulations to SuperAnnotate on this milestone and to the Armenian startup ecosystem for celebrating the birth of another Series B startup! ❤️

The Ministry of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia, Levi Semiconductors, and Enterprise Armenia (EA) have signed a memorandum of cooperation to establish a plant for multi-component semiconductor and silicon photonic/optical microchips production. With an investment of $34M, this project aims to localize the semiconductor value chain. The goal is to produce 12,000 microchip substrates annually. We are hopeful that this initiative will quickly scale from MOU stage into a transformative reality for Armenia’s tech ecosystem. Levi Semiconductors, headquartered in Singapore is a specialized manufacturing service provider for compound semiconductor and silicon photonics applications, serving customers globally. Photo and News Source: https://lnkd.in/eingGmnq #SemiconductorIndustry #LeviSemiconductor

Profound Academy launched a campaign on Product Hunt featuring their new tool allowing educators to create their own courses and teach without the need for approval from a university or school. Upvote and share here: https://lnkd.in/eJAhz3KG Your upvotes and feedback can help elevate this innovative platform! 🙌 Extra Details - Product Demo: https://shorturl.at/bfQ5y - Full list of benefits and features: https://lnkd.in/e4cfKeh3 P.S. Get in touch with Martin Mirakyan if you would like to learn more about the startup and its next plans.

🚀 Fasttoken, the cryptocurrency developed by Armenian tech giant BetConstruct, has just crossed the $1 billion market cap! 🌟 This success in the iGaming and betting sector highlights the impact that high-value tech leaders can have on Armenia's startup ecosystem. That said, could this mean that another Armenian unicorn has just been born? 🦄 Source: https://lnkd.in/e7CxNNjG

🎉 Breaking News! 🎉 nomiq, the EWC Armenia 2024 National Winner, has just won the 1st Prize in the Idea Stage at the #EWC2024 Global Finals in Riyadh! 🏆🇦🇲 Huge congratulations to the nomiq team for this remarkable achievement and to the Armenian startup ecosystem for this milestone! 🌍 Let’s join together to celebrate with nomiq as they take this bold step onto the global stage! 🚀 nomiq Tatev Avagyan Samvel Hovakimyan Ashot Petrosyan Nejdeh Hovanessian EWC Armenia EPIC - Entrepreneurship and Product Innovation Center (c) Photo Credit & News: Nejdeh Hovanessian post on LinkedIn: https://shorturl.at/kaZ40