The startup ideas of the six teams of young entrepreneurs will be rated by a representative jury panel, comprised of  members from Armenia and Turkey, including: Ashot Arzumanyan -Associate, Granatus Ventures,Pavel Snkhchyan - Vice President, Sourcio IT Consulting Company, Yervand Aghababyan  - COO, SFL, Vazgen Karapetyan-deputy director, Eurasia Partnership Foundation (from Armenia) and  Cansu Sarac, Research Associate, The Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV) and Emre Ozbek, Partner, Istanbul Startup Angels (from Turkey).

Following the pitches the jury will have a closed deliberation session at 16:00-17:00.

Criteria for evaluation include: business opportunity match, marketing, novelty, idea execution, and the business model.

The teams will pitch the following startup ideas to the jury:

Home Planning:  an online interior design platform for offices and houses.

TPI:  an online income earning platform for disabled people, which will also allow ensure their social integration.

Paqqy:  a novel online delivery network.

Evreka: a new concept of smart cities and waste management.  

Trendify:   creating and following new trends on social media.

Semt.  location-based messaging board for the sale and purchase of items.

The results of the jury deliberation will be made public at a press conference on May 13 at the Public Journalism Club.

TGBB kicked off in February and was implemented in three stages. During the first-capacity building stage (23 February -23 March, 2015) the six teams from Armenia and Turkey received online mentorship from Armenian and Turkish experts, who also assessed their needs. The teams then came together at a four day crash course in Armenia (March 26-29), which was followed by another round of online mentorship during which the teams reviewed and finalized their ideas and prepared for the pitching on May 12.  

The project is funded by the U.S. Embassy in Armenia and European Union. It is implemented by the Microsoft Innovation Center and the Public Journalism Club.