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Venture capital is a high-risk world where an idea can become the start of the next global revolution. Why do the confidence, experience, and risk-taking ability of a group of people influence the technological trajectory of different countries? One of the shapers of that trajectory is the venture fund Triple S Ventures.
When Triple S Ventures began its journey three years ago, the Armenian venture ecosystem was still taking shape. Today, Armenia is a regional leader in this field.
Avag Simonyan, co-founder of Triple S Ventures, told Armenpress how confidence in taking risks turns into success.
Essence and principles of venture funds
According to Avag Simonyan, venture funds are legal structures in which partners raise money from investors. The collected capital is directed to financing high-risk businesses, mainly startups.
“The mechanism is quite simple: the fund partners raise money from large investors who trust them with their capital. The main goal of the partners is to make the right allocations and ensure the highest possible investment return,” he noted.
Formation and breakthrough of Triple S Ventures
Triple S Ventures celebrates its third anniversary this year. According to Avag Simonyan, when they launched the fund with Artur Janibekyan, Hakob Hakobyan and Zare Baghdasaryan, they did not yet have the vision they have today regarding the fund’s future.
“There were a number of turning points that shaped our current plans and development directions. Initially, we had decided to invest only in startups with Armenian founders. However, during the first year and a half, we realized that cooperation with non-Armenian startups would be much more effective for the Armenian ecosystem. This allows us to strengthen ties between Armenian and foreign founders and bring non-Armenian startups to Armenia to form teams here,” he emphasized.
As a result of this decision, the fund also began operating actively in California.
“My partner Zare Baghdasaryan and I are here now, and the other partners are mainly in Yerevan. So we are active in both directions, trying to create a bridge between the technological ecosystems of Armenia and, especially, Southern California and Los Angeles,” said Simonyan.
Development of the Armenian venture ecosystem
When Triple S Ventures began its activities, the Armenian venture ecosystem was still forming. According to Avag Simonyan, the ecosystem has experienced significant growth over the last eight to ten years.
“If it is good for a startup when the product grows tenfold in a year, then the Armenian ecosystem has developed in exactly the same way over the last decade, if not more.” He highlights the arrival of new acceleration programs in Armenia and major investments in technological infrastructure as key changes of the past three years.
“The Armenian ecosystem is now a regional leader. There is great interest among investors, driven especially by the already successful stories of startups created by Armenian founders. Today there are many such examples: ServiceTitan, Podcastle, Krisp, Picsart, SuperAnnotate. All these companies show that the Armenian startup ecosystem is not only interesting but also productive,” he emphasized.
Investment criteria: The team comes first
There are 19 startups in the Triple S Ventures portfolio today. Each investment decision, as Avag Simonyan has noted, is based on several key criteria.
“The first is the team. We assess how well the founders know the relevant market, what experience, knowledge, connections, and communications they have,” he says, adding that the energetic match between the fund and the startup is also important. This factor often becomes decisive for long-term cooperation.
Triple S Ventures supports teams throughout the entire journey- from raising investment to building relationships with major partners. The fund’s portfolio includes startups such as Docus, Sleep Doctor, Denovo Sciences, Areg AI, Simcare AI, CloudChipr, BlueQubit, Tactun, My Town AI, Ritual Dental, OmniShift, Nephesh, Modicus Prime, Waveye, Sparxell, Octopulse AI, Optimyzee, Thera B Medical, and StarsHunt, some of which already have significant achievements in their respective industries.
The future strategy of Triple S Ventures
Triple S Ventures’ main goal in the coming years is to open new markets and expand cooperation both regionally and globally. “We want to create a platform where Armenian and international startups can unite, exchange experience, and share resources. For us, investment is not just capital-it is about building sustainable connections,” said Simonyan.
The fund also plans to form an investment fund aimed at newer, more mature startups.
According to Simonyan, cooperation between the public and private sectors is important for the rapid growth of the ecosystem: “If we imagine the ecosystem as a whole, the state is one of its main components. In the absence of this link, the growth rate inevitably decreases.” He noted that significant work has been done in this direction in recent years.
Changing the mindset of Armenian investors
Reflecting on the changing mindset of Armenian investors, Avag Simonyan has noted significant progress over the past four to five years: “We, Armenian investors, have begun to take much greater risks than before. I think the main reason for this is the achievement of certain successes, the success of a number of Armenian startups inspires new investors.”
He said the number of angel investors in Armenia has also risen significantly. Avag Simonyan is confident that the willingness to take bigger risks reflects the maturity of the investment culture.
Looking ahead, he believes Armenia will continue to strengthen as a regional technology center. “I believe that we have all the prerequisites to make Armenia not only a center for creating startups but also a hub for global technology partnerships,” he noted.