General Information: The EU supported IRIS Business Incubator is a new Armenian institution supporting Syrian Armenian and local entrepreneurs to establish and develop successful ventures by providing a unique full cycle of business support services, including training, coaching, mentoring and access to finance with grant and loan funds.

The IRIS Business Incubator has been established in 2019 by “Armenian Caritas” Benevolent NGO and “SME Cooperation Association” NGO within the framework of “Increased Resilience of Syrian Armenians and Host Population” (IRIS) programme funded by the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis (‘MADAD՛ Fund), Austrian Development Cooperation and Austrian Red Cross.

The mission of the IRIS Business Incubator is to enhance the economic integration of Syrian-Armenians and host population through raising the competitiveness of the local economy by stimulating innovation and entrepreneurial spirit in Armenia.

The vision of the IRIS Business Incubator is to become the national Business Incubation hub for start-ups in Armenia. The main objective of the IRIS Business Incubator is to create and develop sustainable and competitive small and medium-sized enterprises by providing full-scale support to entrepreneurs to bring their business ideas into the market.

Throughout the duration of the EU IRIS programme it is planned that more than 300 entrepreneurs will attend the trainings, and 140 of them will get financial support. Within the programme the overall budget of IRIS Business Incubator grants fund is € 558,000 and € 629,000 for the revolving fund.

Call for Applications: IRIS Business Incubator announces the first Call for Applications for three simultaneously running programmes: SPARK, BUILD and START to cover the business support initiatives designated for the IRIS BI target groups that are mainly Syrian Armenians and host population who run or aim to start businesses in the territory of the Republic of Armenia. The admission of candidates to the first phase of the programmes shall be through this Call. IRIS BI Call for Applications was announced on 23rd of October, 2019 and the deadline to submit applications is 30th of November, 2019.

All application forms are available online on IRIS BI social media page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/IRISBusinessIncubator, and on IRIS BI founder’s websites at www.caritas.am and www.sme.am.  Read More…