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ACCELERATOR #5

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About the program
 

The core mission of the program was to support adolescent girls and young women in Armenia to broaden their entrepreneurial skills, create their startups, and explore entry points in the ICT industry. The acceleration program was addressing SDG 5 which calls for gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls, as there’s a tremendous opportunity to make an impact worldwide via their gained knowledge, hence it should be under important consideration.

The program was a joint initiative of UNDP ImpactAim Venture Accelerator, UNICEF and ISTC. As the primary partner, we’ve designed and implemented 3 batches of the program, broadening our impact and introducing new tracks with each one. As a conclusion, the program has evolved into the National Accelerator - “Platform#5”, uniting together UNDP, The Government of the Republic of Armenia, and the private sector players.

Throughout 3 batches, we’ve designed 4 tracks, taking place in-person in Yerevan, Gyumri, Vanadzor, and Sisian. ​​During the COVID-19 pandemic, we successfully transitioned the program to a fully online format, enabling us to reach participants from all marzes.

Program flow

The tracks are the following:

  1. ACC#5 for Kidz was designed to help young girls (aged 8-14) take the first leap into programming. In the framework of ACC#5, the kids have had a chance to acquire coding, presentation, and pitching skills, take web development and scratch track, participate in the hackathon, and gain a network. At the end of the program, kids participants entered the STEM world and got help to choose the future direction for their education path.

  2. ACC#5 for Women and Girls (15+) was designed for vulnerable women and girls with the purpose of teaching them tech and business skills through weekly workshops/training and leading them through mentorship sessions with field experts, as well as targeted events and meetups.

    1. Benefit 1: the best students were granted the opportunity to become trainers. A tailored program was provided for selected participants to become Assistants of the Trainers of the next batch. 

    2. Benefit 2: participants graduated with relevant skills necessary for creating their startup or becoming a part of an existing one. The best startup projects got the chance to enter the ImpactAim Accelerator Program, where through a specially designed curriculum and mentorship, they were able to develop further their business projects.

    3. Benefit 3: In the frames of the program, Demo Days were organized where the startup teams had the opportunity to pitch their ideas in front of the evaluating committee and be selected to receive monetary awards of up to USD 9,000.

  3. ACC#5 for Women-led businesses was designed to support women-led businesses affected by COVID-19, aiming to support them in digital transformation, market positioning and increasing sales.

    1. Benefit 1: promising women-led businesses were guided on how to adopt digitalization strategies,

    2. Benefit 2: In the frames of the program, Demo Days were organized where the startup teams had the opportunity to pitch their ideas in front of the evaluating committee and be selected to receive monetary awards of up to USD 9,000.

  4. ACC#5 for Teenz was designed to help kids and teenagers, aged 10-18, take the first leap into the developing world of creative technologies. The sessions lasted a couple of weeks, providing programming, digital design, arts, and other skills. The program tended to entertain and inspire young minds, as it combined fun with tech education.

The Outcome

The program results were: 

  • 600+ participants from all regions of Armenia 

  • 23 graduated startup teams 

  • 30+ active trainers and mentors

The program was conducted in Yerevan, Gyumri, Vanadzor and Sisian.

Capturing Creativity

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