AICA

Two startups from the AICA portfolio Denovo Sciences and TACTUN have won the Armenian national round of the Gateway to VivaTech competition and are heading to Paris this June. Congratulations to the third winner MedPair team as well.

13 startups pitched. Only three were selected to represent Armenia.

Proud to see AICA founders among them stepping onto one of Europe’s biggest innovation stages.

This is what it looks like when founders are ready and get in the right room.

Thank you Nejdeh Hovanessian, Julien Schmitt and the entire team behind this.

Honored by the presence of Mr. Benjamin Haddad, Minister Delegate for Europe of France, at the award ceremony.

Built with the support of the European Union, Expertise France, and EU4Innovation East.

And thank you to Picsart and Dr. Madlene A Minassian for being an amazing host for the national selection.

✌️Looking forward to VivaTech.

Applications are now open for Angel Investor Club of Armenia (AICA)’s 29th Pitch Session.

After successfully closing a deal and with a few more in progress from our early spring session, we’re continuing the momentum. 🤝

This is where conversations turn into commitment, and commitment turns into deals.

🌏 Worldwide angels uniting at AICA from the US to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, bringing capital, perspective, and access.

We’re looking for founders who:
• Are building for global markets
• Across stages, from idea to growth, with clear signals of willingness to pay and real market need
• Are ready for candid feedback and real investor conversations
__________

👉 Application form: https://lnkd.in/dW7TYe5V
⚡ Deadline: May 1 (included)

AICA-ն 30 օրում փակել է DeepSat-ի ներդրումային գործարքը Հայաստանի հրեշտակ ներդրողների ակումբը հայտարարել է DeepSat նախագծի համար ստեղծված հատուկ ներդրումային գործիքի (SPV) հաջող ավարտի մասին։ Ըստ հայտարարության՝ ներդրումա....

DeepSat SPV Successfully Closed 🪽

From pitch to funds in the company’s account — 30 days.

We’ve just completed the DeepSat SPV led by Angel Investor Club of Armenia (AICA), with capital now deployed to the startup.

🛰️ DeepSat is building a real-time Earth intelligence layer from space — combining VLEO satellites and in-orbit AI to enable faster, more informed decision-making across defense, infrastructure, and climate-critical operations.

Special thanks to all our angels for their trust, speed, and commitment throughout the process.

For AICA, this marks the beginning of a new era — opening the door to more structured, fast-moving investment opportunities alongside our angels.

Nerses Ohanyan, Hayk Martirosyan welcome to the AICA portfolio 🪽
Proud to back your vision.

New Angel Investor at AICA 🪽

We’re happy to have Cyril Shtabtsovsky join the Angel Investor Club of Armenia (AICA).

Cyril is the Founder of AlphaSemantic, building the first semantic search platform designed specifically for startups and venture capital, already used by VC funds across the USA, UK, and Europe 🇺🇸 🇬🇧 🇪🇺

He is also active as a DeepTech VC and angel investor, focusing on AI, deep tech, software, and fintech startups, with a strong interest in research commercialization and in turning scientific innovation into scalable companies.

Cyril is also a co-founder of the Founders Running Club Yerevan chapter, helping build a strong and supportive founder community in Armenia. 🏃🏻‍♀️🏃‍♂️🏃🏻🇦🇲

Welcome to the community, Cyril 🚀 Happy to have you with us at AICA!

During , a dedicated panel on healthcare investment brought together key voices to discuss how to attract capital, build the right frameworks, and strengthen investor confidence in HealthTech.

Clear takeaway:
We don’t lack innovation. We lack pathways to scale it.
Too many strong solutions remain at the pilot stage.
HealthTech in Armenia is still early, which makes the opportunity even bigger.
Now it’s time to build the system around the startups.

Panelists:
Ashot Arzumanyan | SmartGateVC
Sona Grigoryan | Plug and Play Tech Center
Manuk Hergnyan | Granatus Ventures, also an Angel Investor Club of Armenia (AICA) angel,
Naré Gevorgyan | Angel Investor Club of Armenia (AICA)

Special thanks to Dr Robin Vicken Ohannessian MD MPH PhD. for organizing the event and hosting the panel.

You can find an interesting read on this topic on iTel.am - Advanced Armenia — “Health Innovation in Armenia: From Isolated Efforts to a Scalable Ecosystem” by Nune Grigorian (link in comments).

New Angel Investor at AICA 🪽

We’re happy to welcome Nazar Shahinian⁩ to the Angel Investor Club of Armenia (AICA).

Nazar is a dynamic business development leader with extensive experience in global markets. Since 2013, he has served as VP of Business Development at Group Harwal, focusing on expanding international partnerships, increasing market reach, and developing value-engineered system solutions based on the group’s manufacturing and engineering capabilities.

His work spans strategic partnerships, public relations, and market expansion across the Middle East and Africa, while also contributing to innovative construction systems that impact building methodologies in the GCC.

Group Harwal is a global manufacturing group with 45 years of growth, operating 50+ factories worldwide across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Armenia, Russia, the USA, and Mexico, employing more than 6,500 people.

Welcome to the community, Nazar 🪽 looking forward to your perspective and experience at AICA.

Pitching days at AICA are always special, but March 7th felt like a mini world tour: angels joining from Silicon Valley to New York, from Europe to Dubai, and even from Japan. 🌏

All because there are bold Armenian founders we want to back early. 🪽
Grateful to everyone who joined and contributed to the conversation.

Looking forward to seeing new deals emerge from this session. 🚀

🥁 New Angel Investor at AICA 🪽

We’re happy to welcome Harout Topsacalian to the Angel Investor Club of Armenia (AICA).

Harout is a New York–based strategic investor with more than 30 years of experience across real estate, technology, and international development. He is the Founder and Managing Director of Irmata Group, focused on commercial real estate investment and management in the U.S. and Eastern Europe. 🌎

Earlier in his career, Harout held senior roles at PwC in New York and Romania 🇷🇴, advising energy, telecom, and M&A clients, and has also been involved in venture capital fundraising and several startup ventures. He began his career in the energy sector and later worked on U.S. government–funded sector restructuring programs in Armenia and Georgia, giving him a long-standing connection to the region.

Harout holds a B.E. in Electrical Engineering from Stony Brook University and an MBA in International Business from Baruch College (CUNY).

We’re very happy to have you with us, Harout, and look forward to your perspective and experience in the AICA community. 🪽

The 25th Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises-UATE Congress was not just a celebration.

It was a reminder of how institutions shape ecosystems.

For 25 years, UATE has:
🤝 Unified the majority of Armenia’s high-tech companies
🤝 Built an event like DigiTec that showcases our global ambition
🤝 Invested in long-term education through Armath Engineering Makerspaces
🤝 Proven that a non-profit can drive national economic impact

For AICA, being present at this Congress meant something deeper.
As an angel club, we operate at the earliest stages, where ideas are fragile, founders are bold, and capital is personal. 🪽

But growth requires alignment across layers:
Education → Founders → Angels → Scale → Policy → Global positioning.
That alignment is what events like this reinforce.

We met the founders.
We reconnected with ecosystem builders.
We discussed cross-border investment flows.
We saw how much the ecosystem has matured, and how much potential remains.

AICA is proud to be part of that architecture.