What happens when you bring together a hub centered on tech and innovation with a community of imaginative, driven people? Magic. At TUMO Labs, creative minds connect and collaborate during incubation projects, and eventually, some of them bring incredible startup ideas to life.
That’s exactly what happened with Gleb Lukyanov (CEO), Narek Hambardzumyan (CBO), Tigran Melkonyan (CPO), and Avo Midoyan (Backend Development Team Lead). When they first embarked on their journeys at TUMO Labs and 42 Yerevan, none of them could have predicted that they would one day co-found a company together.
Enter Avitráge. Derived from the French word vitrage, meaning glazed glass, it symbolizes how individual pieces come together to form a complete picture, like in the glass murals in churches. In the same way, the four co-founders of Avitráge unite their talents to create something larger than themselves.
Avitráge is a B2B platform that provides virtual tools that businesses can use to train their staff more effectively. From teaching restaurant staff the menu through gamified learning methods to providing interactive customer service training, their solution is versatile and engaging. The company has been registered for 8 months, but its journey began long before that, with the co-founders working together for over a year and a half.
We sat down with co-founders Narek and Avo, along with back-end developer Arevik, to discuss their startup journey, how TUMO Labs and 42 Yerevan played a key role, and what lies ahead for Avitráge.
Narek’s journey with Avitráge started when he moved to Armenia in 2022 and joined 42 Yerevan to make a career shift. After completing the intensive Piscine program at 42 Yerevan, he heard about the TUMO Labs incubation program and decided to dive in.
Avo, who had been a student at 42 Yerevan for over two years, joined forces with Narek during the incubation phase. Together with Gleb and Tigran, who are also 42 Yerevan students, they solidified the foundation of Avitráge.
During the incubation period, the team’s vision for Avitráge began to take shape. The impact of 42 Yerevan and TUMO Labs on Avitráge’s success cannot be understated. Avo recalls how the unique programming style taught at 42 played a significant role in the development of the platform.
“At 42, you learn how to adapt quickly and solve problems creatively. This is crucial in a startup environment where things are constantly changing,” says Avo.
Arevik mentions that if it wasn’t for 42 Yerevan, she wouldn’t have the skills to be a back-end developer. Something she fine-tuned after graduating from 42 Yerevan’s Main Curriculum.
Narek adds, “I didn’t know anything about coding before 42. If I hadn’t learned the fundamentals there, I would never have been able to work in a technical startup like this. The peer-to-peer learning culture at 42 is something we’ve carried into Avitráge as well.”
The team now consists of 13 people. What’s more? 11 of the team members either have graduated from the 42 Main Curriculum, are currently 42 Yerevan students, or have participated in a TUMO Labs program at some point.
While business takes up most of their time, the Avitráge team still makes space for their personal passions. Avo enjoys playing sports and guitar, while Arevik is a fan of rock music, anime, and Japanese culture. And Narek enjoys traveling outside the city when he’s not working.
Since launching the current version of their product two months ago, Avitráge has been working hard to expand its reach. The platform operates on a subscription-based model, giving businesses access to a variety of training tools designed to suit their industry needs.
With plans to grow both their product offerings and team, the co-founders are confident that Avitráge will continue to scale. As Avo puts it, “We’re aiming to become bigger, more sustainable, and make a real impact on how businesses train their staff.”