Ragim Bayramly on the key priorities of SABAH.HUB in 2026

Ragim Bayramli, Baku, Executive Director of the SABAH.HUB Innovation Center

Strategy and Development

2025 was a year of scaling for us. While in previous years we laid a solid foundation, this year we began building a comprehensive innovation system with international reach based on that foundation.

We hosted one of the largest Baku ID events to date, with over 4,000 participants, 21+ partners, 100+ startups, and $4 million in investments. Most importantly, we transformed it from a simple event into a strategic entry point into the regional ecosystem for players from MENA, Central Asia, and Europe.

Another key step was the commencement of construction on SABAH.city — Azerbaijan’s first science and technology town. This will not just be a tech park, but a full ecosystem spanning 20 hectares, where technology transfer departments, startups, funds, and educational centers will operate under one roof.

At the beginning of 2025, we set clear strategic goals: to scale educational initiatives, improve the efficiency of acceleration programs, launch new technological products, and strengthen Azerbaijan’s position as a regional innovation hub. Our focus was on developing human capital, creating infrastructure, and professionally attracting investments. Key tasks included:

— expanding the reach of SABAH.academy and attracting international professors from leading universities

— implementing progressive educational approaches

— developing startups through SABAH.lab

— bringing new products to market via SABAH.studio

— strengthening the investment environment through SABAH.fund and SABAH.angels

— and, of course, scaling Baku ID to an international level.

The results exceeded expectations: SABAH.academy trained over 3,500 students with the participation of 34 international and 19 local experts. The number of students in SABAH.school doubled. Education is also conducted using the IB approach, focusing on emotional development and digital literacy. SABAH.lab conducted 10 incubation and 9 acceleration programs, covering the startup journey from idea to scaling. 232 startups underwent incubation, and 105 underwent acceleration. The total volume of attracted investments was over $7 million.

The culmination was Baku ID 2025 — the region’s largest innovation event, bringing together investors, venture studios, and startups from more than 25 countries around the world.

Growth and Community

The biggest leap forward came from programs focused on launching and scaling startups. We see a shift in focus from theory to practice. Teams want not just to learn, but to create scalable businesses. Directions such as AI, EdTech, and FinTech are growing particularly brightly, with obvious potential to expand beyond the local market. This confirms the demand for a mature ecosystem and systematic support.

Our community continues to grow — over 20,000 participants: startups, students, mentors, investors, and corporate partners.

Growth in the educational sector is particularly notable: in 2022, 346 students passed through SABAH.academy. In 2025, that number rose to 1,162 students. 68 teams moved directly from training to the incubation and acceleration stage in SABAH.lab — for us, this is the main criterion of effectiveness.

This year, several projects within our ecosystem demonstrated not just growth, but clear market viability. Among them, I would like to highlight three particularly bright cases:

1. Tredu — a digital platform for extracurricular education for schoolchildren. Over the course of a year, the team went from an idea to a fully-fledged product, becoming a separate legal entity. Today, Tredu offers courses in programming, art, chess, and other fields, while also providing children with quick access to classes directly within their schools. With over 2,000 registrations, 30,000 downloads, 50+ partners, and 4,200+ hours of classes, this is proof that the product solves a real and large-scale problem.
2. Admitt — a platform for supporting and automating applications to foreign universities, uniting applicants and educational consultants in a single system. The platform simplifies work with applications, documents, and communication, making the admission process more structured and transparent.
3. Baku ID — our largest project in 2025. We transformed Baku ID into a genuine entry point into the regional ecosystem. For dozens of startups, Baku ID became a moment of breakthrough; for the ecosystem, it became a sign of maturity and potential.

The formats that received the strongest response from the audience were those where results could be demonstrated and connections established: Demo Days, pitch sessions, and international forums.

Investments and Partnerships

This year, the investment direction has noticeably strengthened. SABAH.angels — the business angel community at SABAH.HUB — unites 150+ active investors with a total investment portfolio of $276,000. SABAH.fund — a venture fund with a volume of $25 million, has already closed 17 deals, of which $2.7 million were invested in startups from 12 countries.

For us, strategic partnerships are long-term alliances that form the infrastructure of the ecosystem and create real opportunities for startups and talent.

First and foremost, this is cooperation with leading corporations in Azerbaijan. We have established partnerships with state institutions, PASHA Holding, SOCAR, ABB, NEQSOL Holding, and others, which participate in startup launch and development programs.

The second important block is government partnerships, primarily with the Ministry of Science and Education of Azerbaijan. It was this cooperation that allowed us to launch and scale SABAH.academy, SABAH.lab, and create a sustainable chain of education, entrepreneurship, startups, and investments. This partnership is systemic and serves as the foundation for our entire educational and personnel strategy.

The third strategic direction is international corporations, investors, and ecosystem partners. Through Baku ID, international events, and investment platforms, we have established sustainable connections with venture funds and studios from MENA, Central Asia, and Europe, international accelerators and investment communities, as well as global corporations interested in entering regional markets through Azerbaijan.

These partnerships are already transforming into joint investments, cross-regional pilots, and plans to onboard international teams into SABAH.city.

Ultimately, all key collaborations converge at one point — creating a sustainable innovation platform where the state, corporations, startups, and investors work not in parallel, but as a single system. It is precisely this that makes SABAH.HUB not just a hub, but an architect of the ecosystem.

We are observing steady growth in interest. Increasing attention and investment is being directed toward supporting startups developing in Azerbaijan. Deals also cover MENA, Central Asia, and the Caucasus, and SABAH.HUB is increasingly viewed as an entry point into these markets.

Plans and Expectations

Our main priority is the launch of the first phase of SABAH.city, where it is planned to host more than 50 resident organizations, engage 5,000 participants, and create more than 1,000 new jobs in the fields of technology and research.

At the same time, we will scale international partnerships and strengthen the acceleration of startups focused on global markets.

SABAH.HUB is a sustainable system where students become founders, ideas turn into businesses, and investors become co-authors of growth. We are building not just projects; we are building trust and long-term value for the country and the region.