Armenia opens it office in Silicon Valley and will create Venture fund to finance it projects

YEREVAN, December 12. / ARKA /. Armenian opened its IT office in Silicon Valley (California) yesterday at a ceremony attended by prime minister Tigran Sargsyan at Plug and Play technology center, the Armenian government reported.

"Many countries, including the developed ones, have opened their offices here, because the presence of such a representation in Silicon Valley means having a tool to develop the private sector", Sargsyan told reporters after the official ceremony.

The objectives of the office in the U.S. will include bringing U.S. investors to Armenia, to advertise it as a technology country, to provide Armenian companies with space during exhibitions.
After the opening of the office sales of Armenian IT products in the United States are expected to grow to $1 million a year. The cost of maintaining the office in the Silicon Valley is about $100 thousand per year.

The agreement to create the Armenian IT office in the Silicon Valley was reached in 2010 during the third ArmTech Congress, but its opening had been repeatedly postponed.

Also a memorandum was signed during ArmTech congress to form Armenia's first venture fund to finance IT sector. The fund will start operating in early 2013. It will provide funding up to $500,000; in some cases, this amount could rise to $1 million.

The fund will be established on a parity basis between the Armenian government and private investors (each side will contribute $3 million).

The government will be represented in the investment council of the fund, but the fund will be run by an individual, selected by the investor. -0-