On December 23, CU's Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation hosted a panel discussion on the theme: "From Idea to Success."

Invited speakers at the meeting, who are CU students and graduates, talked about their entrepreneurial experiences and the way they won the Georgia Technology and Innovation Agency 150,000 GEL co-financing grant competition.

The moderator of the event was Irakli Svanidze - guest lecturer of Caucasus University, manager of the innovation and entrepreneurship center.

Invited speakers:

Giorgi Bedoshvili - co-founder and director of Better Energy Solution, an affordable and green electric energy supply service company.

Mariam Tsanava - VELI.store brand head; Co-founder of startup upway.

Giorgi Razmadze - founder of Awork.

Nika Pavliashvili - Co-founder of Colis.

The meeting took place in a question-and-answer mode, the students and the audience had the opportunity to get comprehensive answers to the issues of interest to them.

The Innovation and Technology Agency of Georgia announced the 150,000 GEL co-financing grants program on August 17, 2022. In 2022, the volume of the co-financing grants program increased from 100,000 to 150,000 GEL, and a total of 155 startups were financed within the eight rounds of the mentioned program. From the applications, foreign experts specially selected for the co-financing grants program identified the finalists, who were trained by foreign trainers to present their ideas before the Investment Commission.

The goal of the program is to develop innovative products and services with international potential in Georgia, their commercialization and stimulation of the creation of innovative enterprises. Co-financing grants are one of the most common financing instruments used to support innovation in both developed and developing economies.