Plug and Play opens fourth Armenia cohort, picks 16 startups from 157 bids
What's the deal? Plug and Play and Armenia's Ministry of High-Tech Industry and Artificial Intelligence have launched the fourth batch of their pre-acceleration programme in Yerevan. Selected from 157 applications, 16 startups join the three-month programme designed to validate business models and expand into international markets.
The participants are BerelDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Bio Access PlatformsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, BlurredBoxDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Bucephalus BI, ElevaidDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, HemAI Dynamics, imoonAI, Inventr, Noctua Tech, pensday, PromptRush, ReEducate, RunEvr, Sintropyc, Storks, and VStudios.
What's the endgame? Over 12 weeks, three international mentors will travel to Yerevan each week to work directly with founders on customer validation, product development, sales, and investment readiness. Startups also gain access to Plug and Play's network of more than 100,000 startups, investors, and corporate partners.
What's new? Plug and Play will invest $50,000 annually in a promising startup, part of its long-term commitment to Armenia's innovation ecosystem. The programme concludes in February 2027 with an EXPO Day, where startups present progress to investors and corporations.
Why now? The batch is part of a three-year government partnership formalised in 2025. Since 2024, Plug and Play and the ministry have run three programmes: an acceleration programme for 20 startups, a pre-acceleration programme for 18, and an incubation programme for 19 early-stage teams.
By the numbers: Over the past year, the partnership held more than 1,200 mentorship and advisory sessions, plus 130 introductions to corporations and 95 to venture capital firms. Participating startups and alumni have collectively raised $2.38 million and recorded more than $2.5 million in combined revenue and signed contracts, according to the programme.
What they said: "Our goal is to see more startups from Armenia successfully compete in international markets," said Sona Grigoryan, director of Plug and Play Armenia.
The signal: Armenia's high-tech turnover reportedly rose nearly 28% in 2025, but startup funding remains a challenge, with one ecosystem estimate putting it sharply lower year on year. That makes the cohort's value less about its size than about whether mentorship and investor connections convert into durable financing and overseas customers.
Read more: hightech.gov.am
Image credit: Mario A. P.
