The Georgian technology startup is seeing an ecosystem emerge for the field in the country, however it needs “growth, refinement and adaptation”, a new report by the Asian Development Bank shows.
The report from the bank, a social development organisation with focus on Asia and the Pacific, is entitled “Georgia’s Emerging Ecosystem for Technology Startups” and offers an overview of the emerging sector in the country.
Financial technology and e-commerce startups in Georgia overshadow development of “high-impact” startups in education, healthcare, agriculture, and environmental protection, it said, adding the latter were developing at a slower pace but were “especially important” for their contribution to human capital development, agricultural productivity and climate change mitigation.
ADB acknowledged Government programmes were providing grants to secure early stages of startups, however it noted startups required capital investments as they grew and highlighted venture capital and non-financial support in Georgia as being in their “infancy”.
The report also said the Government grant programmes, international organisations and private companies provided assistance to entrepreneurs and startups by offering special conditions to technology companies that work for international clients, but added “these benefits are not generally utilised by startups”.
“Research and development of new technologies must be strengthened so that startups can commercialise new ideas,” Paul Vandenberg, ADB Principal Economist and the report’s co-author said, noting startups needed to conduct market research for better understanding of what product or service was expected to be in demand. (Agenda/Business World Magazine)
