The record

Nine programs, delivered and reported.

Every one was designed, staffed, run and reported by this foundation - for the European Union, UNDP, GIZ, EFSE and the Government of Armenia. This is the diligence page: dates, funders and outcomes as delivered.

Span  2017 to 2025 Programs  9 Companies  121 involved, 91 graduated Mandates from  EU, UNDP, GIZ, EFSE, Government of Armenia
Programs delivered by Catalyst Foundation, 2017 to 2025
ProgramCycleMandate / fundersDelivered
Armenia Startup Academy2017 - 2025EU-SMEDA, EU-ITTD, EFSE Entrepreneurship Academy, Viva-MTS, GIZ TVET121+ companies; Batch 8 to Demo Day Feb 2025
AI Incubator26 weeksCatalyst Foundation23 companies, 40 researchers
Science & Technology Convergence Conference2019, 2022Co-organized with IIAP, National Academy of Sciences400+ attendees, 80+ speakers (2022)
Entrepreneurial Assistant School8 weeks per cohortCatalyst Foundation9 professional tracks
ImpactAim GovTech Accelerator12 weeksUNDP ImpactAim, Ministry of High-Tech Industry3 tracks: business, tech, impact
Startup Boost Weekend54 hours per editionCatalyst Foundation100+ students, 10+ universities
HyeTech Entrepreneurship Immersion10 daysHyeTech, Los Angeles / Silicon ValleyFounder immersion cohort
ArmSec Conference and CTF2018Co-organized, Armenian cybersecurity communityNational CTF competition
#landed-Catalyst FoundationRelocated-professional integration
Recoverable Grants facility2022 - activeSmartGateVC with EFSE Development Facility€100k grants + €100k venture loan

Program by program

What each one actually was.

The formats are the reusable asset. Each entry below describes what the program did, who mandated it, and what it produced.

Armenia Startup Academy

Dormant - playbook intact

Ran
October 2017 to 2023
Formats
Pre-acceleration and Traction
Mandates
EU-SMEDA, EU-ITTD, EFSE Entrepreneurship Academy, Viva-MTS
Delivered
121 companies involved, 91 graduated, $10M+ raised by alumni

The flagship program and the one that produced most of the alumni pipeline. Pre-acceleration took teams from a technical idea to a testable business; the Traction program took companies that already had a product and pushed them toward revenue and investment.

Seven Demo Day cohorts ran between February 2018 and September 2022, with a final Traction Batch 3 Demo Day in January 2023. The selection process, curriculum, mentor matching and demo-day format are documented and reusable.

AI Incubator

Closed

Length
26 weeks
Mandate
Catalyst Foundation
Delivered
23 companies, 40 researchers
Tracks
Cryptocurrency, robotics, marketing automation, cybersecurity, information technologies, computational biology, quantum computing, media

A long-form incubation program built for research-heavy teams rather than conventional startups, drawing researchers out of computer science and data science departments and pairing them with company-building support.

This is the format closest to what a deep-tech or research-commercialisation mandate would need.

Entrepreneurial Assistant School

Dormant

Length
8 weeks per cohort
Mandate
Catalyst Foundation
Delivered
9 professional tracks
Tracks
Business intelligence, growth, sales, PR, product management, SEO, UI/UX design and related directions

A talent program rather than a company program. It trained young professionals in the operating disciplines that Armenian startups were hiring for and could not find, then placed them into the ecosystem.

Useful precedent for any mandate concerned with employability and workforce development rather than company formation.

ImpactAim GovTech Accelerator

Closed

Length
12 weeks
Mandate
UNDP ImpactAim, Ministry of High-Tech Industry, with Hero House
Delivered
3 tracks: business, technology, impact

A joint initiative with UNDP's ImpactAim accelerator and the Ministry of High-Tech Industry, aimed at technology applied to public-sector problems. Armenia's first impact-focused accelerator work.

The clearest evidence that Catalyst can run a program with a UN agency and a government ministry as joint counterparties.

Startup Boost Weekend

Dormant

Length
54 hours per edition
Mandate
Catalyst Foundation
Delivered
100+ students from 10+ universities

A weekend format taking student teams from concept to prototype in 54 hours. The top of the funnel: cheap, high-volume, and the route by which many later Academy applicants first appeared.

HyeTech Entrepreneurship Immersion

Closed

Length
10 days
Partner
HyeTech, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley
Delivered
Founder immersion cohort

An intensive immersion taking Armenian founders into the Los Angeles and Silicon Valley ecosystems, built with the HyeTech diaspora network. Evidence of the diaspora channel that also supplies much of the mentor network.

ArmSec Conference and CTF

Closed

Held
2018
Mandate
Co-organized with the Armenian cybersecurity community
Delivered
National conference and a 24-hour capture-the-flag competition

Armenia's premier cybersecurity conference and its national CTF competition, co-organized to build the country's security community. A precedent for convening a technical vertical from scratch.

#landed

Dormant

Mandate
Catalyst Foundation
Purpose
Integration of relocated technology professionals

A program for bringing relocated and returning technology professionals into Armenian teams - matching people to companies and into the local ecosystem rather than leaving them adjacent to it.

If you have a mandate, we have the machinery.

We are looking for institutional partners - development finance, government programs, corporate foundations - who need a delivery vehicle in Armenia that already exists and has already reported. Tell us the mandate and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right implementer.

What partnering looks like →

CATALYST Hi-Tech and Entrepreneurship
Development Foundation
Yerevan, Armenia info@catalyst.am