On April 1, 2025, the INMerge Innovation Summit hosted a side event, INGeorgia, at the Pullman Tbilisi Axis Towers in Tbilisi, Georgia, where Lika Merabishvili, Regional Director for the Caucasus at StrategEast, was a featured speaker, joining key stakeholders from the digital economy, startups, and international business to discuss the region’s innovation-driven growth. The speakers of the discussion included Zviad Tsotskolauri is the CEO of Signify, Nino Chedia, Managing Director, United Payment Georgia; Iro Tsagareishvili, Managing Director, Axel – Georgian Business Angel Network; Maka Gvritishvili, Head of Business Development, PASHA Bank Georgia; and Pedro
Santos Vieira, Partner500 Global.
Ms Merabishvili participated in the panel discussion “Innovation at the Intersection of Industries,” where she shared insights on how ecosystem-driven innovation can drive sustainable economic transformation. She highlighted StrategEast’s role in the transformation of Georgia’s IT sector in 2020, particularly its contribution to a policy shift that reduced income tax for international IT companies from 20% to 5%.
“This policy change was a game-changer, attracting major tech companies to establish offices in Georgia and hire local IT professionals,” she noted.
The event, organized by PASHA Holding in partnership with PASHA Bank Georgia, reinforced the region’s commitment to fostering innovation and strengthening the startup ecosystem.
