Financing projects through grants is one of the support measures implemented in Azerbaijan to expand access to financial resources of micro, small and medium enterprises. To this end, Small and Medium Business Development Agency (KOBİA) allocates grants to SMBs. In accordance with the "Procedure for financing educational, scientific, research and support projects related to the development of micro, small and medium business", the projects to be granted a grant shall fall under the category of the fields of education, science, research and support.
To date, KOBİA has allocated funding to 39 projects, including the project titled "Intelligence of things in various purpose equipment and techniques". As part of the project, a number of smart technologies for household and agriculture use were developed and introduced to various state agencies and companies for their application.
According to Tural Ismayilzadeh, the project executive, founder of the futuristic concept "Sky Life Industry" and "SkyBee" startup, the work done with the grant in the amount of 18,551 manats won in the second grant competition for the financing educational, scientific, research and support projects related to the development of micro, small and medium business will pave the way for the activities of entrepreneurs and state agencies in many spheres: "Starting with defense drones, we have developed robots and smart devices for a variety of purposes used in the agricultural sector. Our most successful work is the "SkyBee" project, which earned the global fame. Our project was first recognized in Poland and grew through the Warsaw startup ecosystem, followed by a place among world futurism projects within the London Tech Week program. We achieved our first global international success at the World Startup Competition held in Budapest. Currently, our startup plays a paramount role in the Budapest startup ecosystem. Investors are already interested in the development of the project and its involvement in building a new world. The success of our project does not stop there. "SkyBee" has been chosen by the London-based Association of Futurists as one of the most useful future technologies to protect the ecological balance. This year, we simultaneously reached the World Startup Cup finals in 6 regions, and our team gained the opportunity to take part in the "Grand Final" stage of the world startup cups, to be held in San Francisco on December 1st.”
T. Ismayilzadeh also emphasized that "SkyBee" are bee drones designed to diminish the pollination as a result of the mass death of wild bee families and other insects and combat the global food crisis that the world may face. They will assist farmers in boosting agricultural productivity and indirectly prevent food shortages, while helping states and international organizations maintain the global ecological balance: "The world witnesses food reserves decrease by 8% each year. If previously 32% of the world's land was cultivated for agricultural purposes, against the background of natural disasters and wars, these indicators will decrease to 26%. According to the indicators issued by various research institutes of the UN, from 1992 to present day, 85% of the world`s bee families and insects have been recorded dead. At critical times that nature faces due to urbanization, we see that pollination is impaired by up to 29%. All this indicates the global food crisis that awaits the world in the next few years." It was reported that work is currently underway to expand the application of "SkyBee" drones in the fields of ecology and agriculture. It is planned to conduct a test flight of the 7th modification of "SkyBee" drones in the coming days. "SkyBee" falls into the category of "DeepTech" projects and has already begun to gather a customer base in the global environment. In the future, the idea is expected to be realized in many major cities of the USA, Europe and the Middle East. To achieve this goal, the necessary infrastructure for the flight of "SkyBee" drones will be arranged in these cities. The project`s target audience will cover entrepreneurs, farmers, companies and individuals living in these cities.
The researcher said that the project, which will be improved by the end of this year, will further to the next stage of development in March-April next year: “The startup is currently seeking $300,000 in investment capital to complete the Seed stage. "We all know that the market value of this type of projects is high. We are planning to develop our project until July 2025 and then selling it to large companies. A preliminary meeting regarding domestic patent acquisition has already been held. After successfully completing the test flights, an application will be made to the relevant institutions to both formalize the patent phase and obtain the "Startup" certificate.”
T. Ismayilzadeh conveyed information regarding other technologies developed as part of the grant project and noted that they also developed a smart pot project called "BiGardens": "When going on a long trip, we all need to give the house key so that are flowers are taken care of while we are away. This might cause a number of problems since not everyone understands how to take care of flowers. The smart pots we have developed allow us to take good care of our flowers and other plants from afar, as well as observe their growth. For this purpose, one must purchase smart pots, connect it to a constant source of energy and water and nutrients, take a photo of the flower or plant, download the care instructions from the electronic library and press the "Start" button.”
T. Ismayilzadeh announced that the other project currently being developed is "LifeX". According to him, they have developed a smart device that detects potential suicidal tendencies in adolescents: "We send sound and light signals through it and we identify the psychological state of a person based on the reactions we receive from the other party. I believe that implementing this project in the institutions of the Ministry of Education will bring us many benefits."
The researcher stated that they are currently developing smart devices for parks and parking lots. These devices, which will be installed in parks and parking lots, will provide energy storage for people's mobile devices and other electronic devices due to alternative energy, and will help update data transactions by measuring population density in the city. Most importantly, these technologies will allow us to instantly measure the type of waste of being thrown away, thereby protecting our city from environmental pollution: "We would like these technologies to be put into effect soon in ASAN service centers, other social and public service areas, administrative buildings, business and trade networks, and all our parks. One of the areas that cannot be ignored is our friends with physical disabilities. In the near future, innovations and mobile applications will be made and introduced to the public so that they can walk freely in the country."
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