YEREVAN, Armenia — The Entrepreneurship and Product Innovation Center (EPIC) at the American University of Armenia (AUA) is pleased to announce that EPIC Incubation Program’s 2025 Michael Agbabian Seed Fund Award winner, Project Versus, is preparing to release its platform publicly, transitioning from a closed beta to open access for all users. The platform will soon be available for anyone to join, create matches, and connect through sports and games.
“Project Versus is a platform designed to make sports and offline activities as fun as online ones,” explained Aram Sargsyan, co-founder of Project Versus. “It helps users find equal opponents and teammates for sports, board games, and other activities and organize matches in just three steps.”
Aram described EPIC’s Incubation program as the turning point for the team’s mindset. “Coming from a software engineering background, it was always easier and more appealing to just start implementing. But during the program, we learned to research, conduct interviews, and validate our assumptions. Without EPIC, we would have built something that would have failed without even understanding why,” he remarked.
Aram added that EPIC’s curriculum and mentorship stood out for their quality and practicality. “At the Sevan Startup Summit, we met mentors from top European incubators, and nearly everything they taught had already been covered at EPIC. It showed us that the program here is truly world-class and accessible to everyone.”
Among the key lessons Aram highlighted are persistence and continuous validation.“Persistence is key; everyone says it, but EPIC taught us to live it,” he said. “The fixed schedule, discipline, and small sense of competition pushed us to keep moving even with full-time jobs. It built that muscle we still train every day.”
During the incubation journey, Project Versus also learned that no idea is final. “Every idea starts imperfectly. What matters is how fast you test, learn, and pivot. EPIC taught us how to really understand customer pain points and adapt our solution,” Aram emphasized.
Winning the Michael Agbabian Seed Fund Award at EPIC’s Demo Day gave the team both visibility and validation. “We don’t usually seek visibility, but after Demo Day, people recognized us from our pitch and reached out to collaborate,” said Aram. “It gave us credibility that helps in the next stages.”
Following the program, Project Versus continued evolving. Based on user feedback, the team began developing a mobile version of the platform, now in closed beta and is preparing for a public launch soon. “We’re also adding community-building features and a few surprises we’ll share next year,” Aram hinted.
The team plans to use the EPIC Seed Fund for marketing and partnerships around launch, focusing on expanding their user base and building win-win collaborations. For the Project Versus team, the startup’s true motivation goes beyond profit.
In conclusion, Aram remarked, “Our goal isn’t financial.We’re driven by the social impact. Humans are social creatures, yet loneliness is rising even in our hyperconnected world. By helping people find balanced opponents, play together, and form friendships, we’re building something that brings happiness — and that’s a mission worth working on.”
The Entrepreneurship and Product Innovation Center (EPIC) is a platform of the American University of Armenia (AUA) for promoting entrepreneurial education, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and startup venture incubation. EPIC provides an ecosystem for emerging entrepreneurs consisting of first-class facilities and collaborative workspace, programs and events, and a network of mentors, advisors, and investors. EPIC fosters the understanding and application of entrepreneurship in students and faculty at AUA to craft high-impact multidisciplinary ventures.