STORY OF IMPACT : KÁITS SOCIAL INNOVATION INCUBATOR
In 2019 , Teach For Armenia launched the Káits Social Innovation Incubator , Armenia ’ s first-ever social innovation incubator dedicated to education . Káits , which means spark in Armenian , is a full stage incubator that supports participants from idea development to market entry over the course of four stages : Inspire , Incubate , Accelerate , and Scale . Through the program , we give Alumni-Ambassadors and innovators beyond our program the opportunity to develop and implement solutions to problems that they encountered in their school communities . Of the 120 people who applied to join the Incubator , 73 were selected to participate in the first Inspire stage of the program . Over the course of 16 weeks , participants formed 32 teams and worked collaboratively to develop ideas and plan prototypes . In September 2020 , 13 teams were selected to pitch their Minimum Viable Products ( MVPs ), and ultimately five were awarded a total of $ 50,000 to build and test their MVPs in the second Incubate stage of Káits . The five groups were :
Scan to Learn More : Káits Social Innovation Incubator
● Zardeni : Based in Darbnik village in the Ararat region , students grow edible flowers in a local greenhouse and prepare to take them to market .
● Havasar : A mobile application that adapts learning materials for students with special needs and impairments .
● EduAR : An application for teaching STEM subjects with virtual and augmented reality tools .
● Nor Das : An AI-powered teacher training toolkit .
● AreeBus : A mobile classroom that travels to communities in Armenia and Artsakh with free STEAM education .
During the 11 months of the Incubate stage in 2021 , these groups were provided with a part-time salary , mentorship , funding to test and promote their MVPs , and office residence at Teach For Armenia ’ s headquarters in Yerevan . Their mentors included Ani Kyureghyan , a business development and marketing expert , Heghine Koshtoyan , an international education consultant ,
68