As the world’s next tech hub, Armenia’s tech sector has enjoyed double-digit annual growth rates employing some 20,000 workers–30 percent of whom are women, Jackie Abramian writes in an article published by Forbes.
The author notes that Armenia is ground zero for award-winning, globally recognized technology start-ups–many led by women, some 30 years old or under, or hailing high percentage of women employees including among the extensive list:
- Digital Pomegranate–one of the world’s premier Flutter development agencies, and one of Armenia’s largest tech companies–with CEO, Gayane Ghandilyan Arakelyan–50 percent of employees and 70 percent of top management are women.
- Synopsys-Armenia (the largest office outside the U.S.)–one of Armenia’s largest IT employers with over 650 employees–33 percent of its 600+ engineers are women. While women employees comprise only 15 percent of Synopsys’ Silicon Valley headquarters.
- DASARAN–cloud-based Educational Development System ranked by UNDP as one of the world’s top 5 social enterprises –with Deputy CEO, Rima Sargsyan–72 percent of employees are women.
- WeDoApps–a premier web and mobile application development company–with CEO, Anahit Manukyan, top managers and 50 percent of employees are women.
- PicsArt– all-in-one photo and video editing app with over 150 million monthly active users, ranked 5th in Forbes Top 50 Startups of 2015–51 percent of employees are women.
- Tumo Center for Creative Technologies–a new kind of educational experience at the intersection of technology and design–with CEO, Marie Lou Papazian–51 percent of its employees and contractors are women.
- Girls In Tech, Armenia–a chapter of the global non-profit designed to end gender inequality in high-tech industries and startups–with Founder, Seda Papoyan led by a team of four women, with 200 registered members and a network of over 1,000 girls and women.
- SoloLearn–free student-centric open crowd-learning–with Co-founder-CEO Yeva Hyusyan–46 percent of employees are women.
- Forge Fiction–community-driven platform created by an all-female team, transfers universe creation and story writing from individuals to communities–with Co-founder-CTO Gayane Gasparyan–55 percent of employees are women.
- Embry Tech–technology to turn all types of shoes to a biometric data tracking and wellness monitoring device–with Co-founder and Chief Design Officer, Nare Gevorgyan–50 percent of the founding team are women, as are 47 percent of employees.
- Krisp–background noise cancellation for remote workforce, among Forbes Top 50 AI companies–25 percent of employees are women.
“Women are really essential in the tech sector as they are bringing a complementary strength and point of view,” Forbes quotes Nare Gevorgyan of Embry Tech as saying. “I’m proud to see our numbers are growing in Armenia.”