Baku ID 2026 Concludes with Startup World Cup and NEXUS Awards
News related to:Baku ID 2026 · 2 min read
Baku, Azerbaijan, One of the region’s leading innovation festivals, "Baku ID 2026," concluded on September 18, 2026, after two days of events at SABAH.city innovation city. The festival, which took place from September 17-18, brought together local and international speakers and showcased the latest innovations in various sectors.
The event featured a diverse lineup of speakers, including Balázs Hendrich, Head of the Representation of the Organization of Turkic States in Hungary; Khamis Said Abdalla, Secretary General of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar; Walid Mansour, Co-Founder and CEO of MEVP; Sina Afra, Co-Founder and Partner at Founder One; Tanat Uskembayev, Managing Director of Astana Hub; and Dominique Piotet, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Ukraine Phoenix Tech Fund. The local ecosystem was also represented by Fariz Jafarov, Executive Director of the Center for Analysis and Coordination of the Fourth Industrial Revolution; Taleh Karimli, Head of the Innovation Ecosystem Development Department at the Innovation and Digital Development Agency; Ramik Guliyev, Head of the Health Policy Department at the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Azerbaijan; and Teymur Aliyev, Head of the Strategic Management and Innovations Department at SOCAR.
"Baku ID 2026" also hosted the Azerbaijan Regional Final of the international startup competition Startup World Cup. The competition, organized by SABAH.angels with Turkish Airlines as the official travel partner, received a total of 160 applications from 20 countries. The selection process was conducted by an international jury, and at the final, 10 startups presented their projects to investors and experts. The winner, 4sell.ai, founded by entrepreneurs from Kazakhstan, earned the right to participate in the Startup World Cup Grand Finale, which will take place in San Francisco on November 6.
The NEXUS Awards ceremony, held on the second day of the festival, was one of the event's highlights. The awards, which spotlight promising startups, investors, and other participants of the regional innovation ecosystem, featured 80 startups competing across 15 categories. The open voting process received more than 100,000 votes, and a total of 12 startups were named winners. Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP) was named "Venture Capital Fund of the Year," while Sina Afra received the "Special Recognition Award."
As part of the event, SABAH.HUB, SABAH.fund, and Türkiye's AI Startup Factory platform signed a memorandum of cooperation. The memorandum aims to support the development of startups and expand investment cooperation. The Azerbaijan Regional Final of the Startup World Cup, the results of the NEXUS Awards, and the signing of the cooperation memorandum once again highlighted the significance of "Baku ID 2026" as a platform supporting regional startup connections and investment cooperation.
The strategic partners of "Baku ID 2026" are the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, PASHA Holding, SOCAR, and the Center for Analysis and Coordination of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR Azerbaijan), operating under the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The festival's main partners are the Innovation and Digital Development Agency (IDDA) and TIMES. Further information about the festival is available on the bakuid.com website and the official social media accounts of "Baku ID."