Cargon: We Entered Two Neighboring Countries After 500Georgia
In 2020, the entry of the top world-class accelerator 500 Global in Georgia completely changed the local startup ecosystem. With the help of professional international mentors, startups had a chance to significantly increase efficiency and scale, get to the US, a dream place for startups in Silicon Valley, and attract the attention of large investors.
It was an opportunity for Georgia to appear on the world startup map. 500 Global's project, 500Georgia, was supported by the Bank of Georgia and the Innovation and Technology Agency GITA. As a result of receiving two streams, the results exceeded expectations: more than 32 million GEL attracted investment, and more than 627,000 registered users of the winning startups.
As a result of the help of the accelerator, the startups received more than 10 million GEL of income, and the total number of their subscribers exceeded 4,400. In total, the startups were able to acquire 89 partners and employ 354 people.
''The main motivation for participating in the program was to get the knowledge and experience that would help us solve everyday problems and develop our product market fit.
After participating in the 500Georgia acceleration, our startup has grown significantly. Additionally, Cargon has entered 2 neighboring countries and, accordingly, the number of customers increased significantly,'' said the co-founder of Cargon, Vaniko Chaladze, at Marketer.
As he explains, after participating in 500Georgia, Cargon became much more interesting for investors. 500Georgia is a validation for investors that the startup is working on a real problem with a relevant solution. Therefore, it became much easier for Cargon to attract investment after participating in 500Georgia.
''I advise them to formulate well the problem for which they are creating a startup. You need to understand the problem well in order to create a product tailored to the needs of the market. Also, it will be important for the selection process that the product has the potential to develop beyond Georgia and that the founders have the ability and ambition to solve this problem globally,'' the co-founder of the startup gives advice to the future participants.