Training Program
During the incubation cycle startup teams will experience various activities related to launching and operating an entrepreneurial venture. Mainly, they will:
- Learn how to identify promising opportunities in Agri-Tech
- Learn about the Green Agriculture Concept
- Learn about Precision agriculture, mainly about GPS Guidance and Auto-steer, Section Control on Sprayers, Row Control on Planters and Seeders, Yield Monitoring, Remote, and In-field Sensing, Data Management, Telematics, Robotics, etc.
- Learn what is “design thinking” and rapid prototyping,
- Learn how to Create MVPs and test them in real-world
- Learn to Conduct customer discovery research
- Learn to recruit and form a team and will become familiar with team dynamics, and culture-setting,
- Understand the role of “failure” in developing products, customers, and new ventures. Gain a deeper understanding of the many ways that startup ventures can succeed and fail, including identification of early warning signs, the implications of such signals, and options for corrective action.
- Learn the main principles of effective branding and how to apply them,
- Develop an understanding of the competitive positioning of products and companies,
- Develop a knowledge of how to “pitch” to investors and other stakeholders, including the development of key soft skills, such as communication and selling tools and skills,
- Learn what makes founders succeed and how to be a great founder and will gain insights, tools, and skills essential to effective leadership and communication in early-stage ventures
- Develop an understanding of marketing and go-to-market strategies and tactics, including “growth hacking,”
- Learn about financial and business models and key performance indicators
- Develop an understanding of intellectual property protection (patents to copyrights and trade secrets)
- Gain knowledge of broader legal issues ranging from entity formation and types to strategies to limit the liabilities of organizations and entrepreneurs,
- Learn more about yourself, your natural personal and leadership styles, and your capabilities and tendencies as a teammate and entrepreneur.
Additionally, startups will have
- 1:1 and mentorship sessions with various successful entrepreneurs. Each team will have a minimum of two meetings during a month.
- Site visits to farmers and Agro companies. Minimum 5 visits will be conducted during the whole period of the incubation.
The program is carried out in the framework of the EU Green Agriculture Initiative in Armenia (EU-GAIA) project, which is funded by the European Union (EU) and co-funded by the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC). The implementing partners of the project are the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Armenia. The main counterpart of the project is the Ministry of Economy of Armenia (MoEc).
