![Funding for grant projects of SMEs has begun](https://smb.gov.az/storage/3936/1.jpg)
The Small and Medium Business Development Agency (SMBDA) has started funding the winning projects under the second grant competition announced to finance projects in the fields of science and support of micro, small and medium enterprises.
Projects include the creation of an online document database, a wastewater power plant, a Smart Data Analytics Platform, smart waste collection and processing, a mobile application for food sales and a single warehouse system, the development of women's entrepreneurship, "intelligence of things",development of equipment to increase beekeeping productivity, expansion of export opportunities of local textile products to the European market, development of social entrepreneurship, software that simplifies SME accounting and reporting, automatic translation of audio / video files into Azerbaijani and support for the development of startup ecosystems.
On March 16, a meeting was organized by SMBDA with the winners of the competition, and agreements were signed with them to finance their projects.
Congratulating the winners of the second grant competition, Chairman of the Board of SMBDA Orkhan Mammadov said that the competition was held to support the financing of SME projects and 200 projects were submitted to the competition. It was noted that in accordance with the collegial decision of the Expert Commission, which includes representatives of various agencies, a decision was made to finance 13 projects. About 248,000 manat will be allocated to finance these projects. Relevant funds will be transferred to the bank accounts of the winning SMEs in the coming days. The projects of 15 SME entities that won the first grant competition were funded in the amount of about 280,000 manat.
Orkhan Mammadov noted that the Agency is interested in making the funded projects sustainable and beneficial for SMEs. SMBDA will monitor the implementation of projects and the use of funds for their intended purpose. In order to ensure transparency and accountability, monitoring will be carried out and the public will be regularly informed about the project implementation process.
The event also included a small exhibition of products and services of entrepreneurs whose projects were funded under the first grant competition.
Note: Acceptance of documents for the 2nd grant competition announced for financing science and support projects of micro, small and medium enterprises was carried out from November 15 to December 14, 2021, and examination and evaluation of projects from December 16, 2021 to February 10, 2022. In accordance with the relevant criteria, the Expert Commission evaluated projects taking into account its impact on the development of micro, small and medium enterprises, innovation, sound ideas, opportunities for practical purposes, availability of necessary experience and material and technical base for project implementation and other such factors.
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