BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 17. The SABAH.HUB
aims to significantly increase the volume of venture funding per
capita in Azerbaijan, CEO at the Center for Analysis and
Coordination of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR), Rahim
Bayramli, told Trend in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of
the "Baku ID 2026" innovation festival held at the SABAH.city
innovation campus.


According to him, the volume of venture capital in Azerbaijan is
still insufficient.


"We recognize that there is still not enough venture capital in
Azerbaijan. We are working on this, expanding our funds,
establishing new ones, and aiming to significantly increase per
capita venture funding in the country," Bayramli noted.


The CEO said that SABAH.HUB contributes to the development of
the innovation ecosystem in 3 key areas: human capital development,
infrastructure development, and increasing access to capital.


He pointed out that the SABAH Studio project operates to address
the need for greater access to capital. Through this project,
SABAH.HUB often partners with startups, working alongside the
founders to foster their growth.


"In many instances, we join these projects as partners, working
shoulder-to-shoulder with the founders to bring new initiatives to
life. We currently have 10 such projects," he also said.


Bayramli added that Azerbaijan is the primary market for
SABAH.HUB regarding the development of startups. The plan is for
startups to first test their products in the domestic market before
expanding into foreign markets.


"Azerbaijan is always our home market. You start here, test your
product here, and determine whether it's really needed by people
and provides value. Only then comes the export phase—that is,
entering new markets," the CEO emphasized.







According to him, the foreign markets of primary interest to
SABAH.HUB are the countries of the South Caucasus and Central Asia.
In the long term, countries in the Middle East and North Africa are
also being considered as potential markets.


Bayramli noted that SABAH.HUB's Nexus project supports
Azerbaijani startups in accessing regional markets, as well as
assisting foreign startups in entering the Azerbaijani market.


"The primary goal of Nexus is to support startups in Azerbaijan
in expanding into other regional markets and to create a 'soft
landing' platform—facilitating smooth market entry—for companies
from other markets interested in Azerbaijan. We are currently
working primarily with Georgia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, and other countries," he noted.


The CEO also highlighted that expanding the SABAH.city project
is one of the key objectives for the upcoming period.


"Today, we have inaugurated only the first phase. This phase
covers an area of ​​20,000 square meters and 5 hectares. In total,
the SABAH.city project will span 125,000 square meters and 20
hectares. We aim to consolidate Azerbaijan's ecosystem here and
establish all regional connections from this location," Bayramli
announced.


SABAH.HUB is a leading incubation, acceleration, and innovation
center operating within Azerbaijan's innovation and technology
ecosystem. The main goal of the center is to support startups,
innovative projects, and young entrepreneurs, create conditions for
their development, and promote a culture of innovation in the
country.