Director of a government-backed investment fund has called Iranian startups sheer copycats who just duplicate examples of successful foreign firms, unleashing a heated debate on social media platforms with many local entrepreneurs denouncing the official’s comments.
NSFund Director Behzad Soltani criticized Iranian startups for lacking originality, saying innovative ideas in domestic business plans have become a rarity, as most entrepreneurs merely replicate international examples, reported ISNA.
Addressing domestic entrepreneurs, Soltani said, “This is the key question: Where is your innovation?” adding that while the Iranian startup ecosystem has observed a significant boom during recent years, many firms are carbon copies of foreign examples and application of innovative ideas has been limited to the marketing aspect in the sector.
“Our statistics indicate that merely one-third of startups have developed innovative products,” he added.
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