On July 9, “SABAH.academy” held the 6th “University Demo Day” event at ADA University as part of “Baku ID” under the general sponsorship of “Code Academy”. This spectacular inter-university startup competition brought together students, investors and corporate partners to watch 10 student teams from Baku State University, Azerbaijan Technical University, ADA University, Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University, Baku Engineering University and UNEC SABAH Groups present their projects live.
The event was officially opened by the head of “SABAH.academy” Amina Malikova. Each team made a 3-minute presentation to the jury, followed by a question-and-answer session. The program also included “Alumni Startup Spotlights” where alumni students presented their startups, and a “Startup Fair” where guests had the opportunity to meet the teams directly and exchange opinions.
After the jury’s evaluation, the winning teams of the 6th “University Demo Day” were announced:
First place: “QuickRecap” (ADA University) – each team member won a 100% tuition scholarship for any career program at “Code Academy”.
Second place: “Seeder” (ADA University) – each team member won a 100% tuition scholarship for “Code Academy’s” “AI for Everyone” program.
Third place: “StipUp” (Azerbaijan Technical University) – each team member won a 100% tuition scholarship for “Code Academy’s” “AI for Everyone” program.
As a special announcement, Samir Hajibeyli, a representative of the venture capital fund “Caucasus Ventures”, distinguished ADA University’s “Seeder” startup by presenting them with a conditional investment commitment of 10,000 USD and inviting one representative of the team to a trip to Silicon Valley in October.
Startup presentations were judged by a panel of renowned diaspora founders and technology leaders: Yagub Rahimov – Co-Founder and CEO of Polygraf AI; Aytekin Aliyeva – Founder and CEO of Femigrants platform, previously working at global technology companies including Meta and NVIDIA; Mahammadiyya Abdurahimov – Senior Software Engineer at Navan; Mansur Pashayev – CEO of Push30 Azerbaijan; Ayaz Ahmadov – Founder and CEO of Dosty project.
During the event, Yagub Rahimov, Co-Founder of Polygraf AI, announced plans to establish a Polygraf Labs center in Azerbaijan to support and develop the local artificial intelligence and cybersecurity ecosystem. The initiative will create 200 new jobs and also serve as a regional hub for the Middle East and Central Asia region. Mr. Rahimov expressed his delight at seeing some of the Demo Day participants as part of the Polygraf AI team. In addition, Yagub Rahimov presented Polygraf AI credits worth $5,000 to the top three winning teams to support safe and sovereign AI initiatives in the region.
University Demo Day has always been more than just a competition. "This is a platform where an honest question asked, a useful connection made, or an unexpected conversation can move any idea forward," said Amina Malikova, head of SABAH.academy.
Founded in June 2022 under the SABAH.HUB Innovation Center, SABAH.academy implements training and education programs that support youth development, entrepreneurship, and innovation. The platform was created with the support of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan and is implemented in partnership with IE Business School. To date, the program has supported the formation of more than 1,000 student teams, and the best teams have been accepted into SABAH.lab to further develop their business ideas.
"Baku ID" is one of the leading innovation events in Azerbaijan, organized by the SABAH.HUB Innovation Center, focused on startups and investments.
You can get more detailed information about the platform's activities and the latest innovations on the SABAH.HUB website.
