The five-day Bootcamp, organized under the support of the George Washington University Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, has officially begun at Caucasus University . The program is being led by Bob Smith, Interim Associate Vice Provost for Research Innovation and Entrepreneurship at George Washington University.

At the opening session, attendees were addressed by several speakers, including Kakha Shengelia, President of Caucasus University; Bob Smith, Interim Associate Vice Provost for Research Innovation and Entrepreneurship at George Washington University, Irena Melua, Vice President for Internationalization at Caucasus University, as well as representatives from the Competitive Innovation Fund (CIF) and Samtskhe-Javakheti State University.

Over 50 Students from both Caucasus University and Samtskhe-Javakheti State University are participating in this five-day bootcamp, where they will gain valuable knowledge and skills on the key stages of creating a startup. These topics include Lean Startup methodology, idea generation and validation, customer relations, value proposition, business model development, market research, branding, fundraising, financial projections, and pitching techniques. The bootcamp will end with a demo day, where participating teams will present their startup ideas.

Representatives from the local ecosystem will also serve as trainers during the bootcamp.

The Bootcamp is being held as part of Entrepreneurship Week and the project Entrepreneurship Education  - Pathway for innovation, inclusion and quality (EEPIIQ), Funded by Georgia I2Q innovation, inclusion, and quality competitive innovation fund  (CIF) and implemented by Caucasus University (CU) and Samtskhe-Javakheti State University (SJSU).