Features - The Times Of Central Asia

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Start-ups

Central Asian Startups Go Global

Startups with their roots in Central Asia are increasingly building businesses for customers in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. International funds are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in these companies, founders are joining Y Combinator and other Silicon Valley programs, and some startups are moving their headquarters abroad while retaining development teams and ties to the region. Central Asian startups attracted a record $320 million in 2025. However, a large share of the funding was concentrated in just two deals: Higgsfield AI and Uzbekistan’s Uzum accounted for 61% of the total. Excluding them, the market amounted to $124.5 million, still 31% higher than in 2024. This points to two aspects of the current growth: venture capital in the region is already measured in hundreds of millions of dollars, but remains heavily concentrated in a handful of companies. Relatively small technology teams from Central Asia are incorporating in the United States, raising money from American investors, and selling products to global customers. Kazakh Roots, American Market So far, the trend is most visible in Kazakhstan. In 2025, venture investment in Kazakh startups reached $209 million, up from $71 million a year earlier, while the aggregate valuation of funded Kazakh startups stood at $2.16 billion. RISE Research also reported that U.S.-focused startups with Kazakh roots raised more than $214 million. One of the biggest examples is Higgsfield AI, whose co-founders include Uzbekistan-born Alex Mashrabov and Kazakhstan’s Yerzat Dulat. Based in San Francisco, the company develops AI tools for generating images and video. In August 2026, Higgsfield raised $400 million in a Series B round at a $5.4 billion valuation. The round was led by DST Global, with investors including Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Tribe Capital, Intel Capital, and other international funds. By then, the company had more than 30 million users. In September, Higgsfield said its technology was being used in campaigns for 390 Fortune 500 companies. Another route into the U.S. market runs through Y Combinator, one of Silicon Valley’s best-known startup accelerators. In 2025, three startups with Kazakhstani founders – Nozomio, Leaping AI, and Hillclimb – joined the program. Arlan Rakhmetzhanov’s Nozomio develops tools that help AI agents work with large software codebases. After Y Combinator, the company raised $6.2 million from CRV, BoxGroup, LocalGlobe, and other investors. Rakhmetzhanov began working on the project while still in school before moving its development to the United States. Leaping AI, whose co-founder and chief technology officer Arkadiy Telegin is from Kazakhstan, develops voice AI agents for businesses. The company went through Y Combinator, raised a $4.7 million seed round, and shifted its center of operations from Germany to San Francisco. Hillclimb, whose founders include Kazakhstan’s Ibrakhim Ustelbay, develops data and virtual environments for training AI models through reinforcement learning, in which an algorithm improves by receiving feedback on its actions. The U.S. market is also attracting startups outside Y Combinator. Kazakh entrepreneur Bakytzhan Dos is developing Nace.AI in the United States, a platform designed for complex enterprise workflows...

C5+1

C5+1 Meets Again in Samarkand, but Central Asia Has Changed

In mid-October, C5+1 will meet again in Samarkand, where its first ministerial was held in November 2015. The regional actor it was created to engage has, however, changed substantially. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to arrive with representatives of more than 100 American companies for talks focused on regional economic connectivity, energy security, trade, private investment, and economic modernization. John Kerry convened the first C5+1 ministerial in Samarkand on November 1, 2015, after the six governments had met in New York that September and agreed to regular consultations. The initial agenda already treated security, economic connectivity, and environmental problems as fields where regional approaches could add value. The question is what purposes C5+1 serves now. C5+1 itself began with a Kazakhstani initiative. As S. Frederick Starr recently reconstructed the history, Ambassador Kairat Umarov, after consulting Astana, proposed in 2013 that Washington create a regular mechanism for engaging Central Asia collectively rather than only through five bilateral relationships. The State Department subsequently developed the proposal, and the format took institutional shape in 2015. That origin rules out any account in which regional agency appears only later. Kazakhstan helped create the mechanism through which Washington would engage the region collectively; the five states’ own capacity for regional coordination deepened substantially thereafter. The second ministerial in Washington in 2016 launched joint projects in economic connectivity, renewable energy, climate resilience, and security, while explicitly recognizing the value of regional approaches. A secretariat was established in 2022; the format reached presidential level for the first time in New York a year later. That summit also produced plans for a private-sector business platform and a Critical Minerals Dialogue, which held its inaugural meeting in February 2024. Its basic structure has remained the same: the United States engages the five Central Asian states collectively. Alongside C5+1, the five developed their own regional process, independent of any outside partner. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed regular consultations among the Central Asian leaders in 2017, and their first Consultative Meeting took place in Astana in March 2018. Further meetings followed in Tashkent in 2019 and Turkmenistan in 2021 before the process moved to Cholpon-Ata in 2022. Subsequent meetings extended the process into trade, transport, energy, water, security, and cultural cooperation. The process remained intergovernmental and did not require policy uniformity among the five states. It gave them a recurring political process of their own. By 2022, the process had expanded from consultation among the five to coordination in dealing with outside partners. At the fourth Consultative Meeting in Cholpon-Ata, the leaders adopted a regional cooperation roadmap for 2022–2024, a Green Agenda, and a Concept of Interaction of the Central Asian States in Multilateral Formats. A treaty on friendship, good-neighborliness, and cooperation for the development of Central Asia in the twenty-first century was also opened for signature. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had proposed regular foreign-minister consultations to develop coordinated approaches to regional and international issues. He specifically connected the multilateral-formats concept to cooperation with non-regional strategic partners. The Concept of Interaction...

Central Asian Music

Put the Needle on the Record: Anvar Kalandarov on Rescuing Soviet Central Asia’s Lost Sounds

For decades, some of Soviet Central Asia’s most inventive recordings survived in an awkward limbo. The music existed, but often on ageing vinyl, scattered tapes, private collections, and copies traded amongst collectors at increasingly extortionate prices. The musicians themselves could be difficult to trace, while the legal ownership of recordings made under the Soviet system was rarely straightforward. Tashkent-based archivist, collector, and producer Anvar Kalandarov has made that ambiguity part of his work. He runs Maqom Soul Records, an Uzbek label devoted to bringing overlooked Central Asian recordings back into circulation. His work ranges from Soviet-era jazz and Uyghur folk rock to music that resists easy classification altogether. [caption id="attachment_57434" align="aligncenter" width="1740"] Anvar Kalandarov holding Synthesizing the Silk Roads; image courtesy of the subject.[/caption] Kalandarov was one of the curators behind Synthesizing the Silk Roads: Uzbek Disco, Tajik Folktronica, Uyghur Rock & Tatar Jazz from 1980s Soviet Central Asia, released by Ostinato Records in 2024. The Times of Central Asia previously traced how wartime evacuation, Soviet recording infrastructure, and Tashkent’s role as a Silk Road crossroads helped create the unusual musical environment captured on that compilation. His more recent projects include Digging Central Asia: Musical Archaeology Along the Silk Road, a collection spanning recordings from the 1970s to the early 1990s, and Maqom Soul’s reissue of Oleg Gotskozik Quintet’s Oriental Suite. Originally issued by Melodiya, the Soviet state record label, in 1979, Oriental Suite fused jazz with Central Asian modal ideas and was recorded at Tashkent’s Gramrecord studio. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTQgbjMNO74 The work is a fusion of archaeology and restoration, with the twists of a mystery story. Kalandarov spoke to The Times of Central Asia about how these recordings are found and given a new lease on life decades after they were first made. TCA: When you decide to reissue a Soviet-era Central Asian recording, where does the process usually begin, and how do you locate the best surviving source material when original masters may be scattered or missing? Kalandarov: It’s different every time. Sometimes I come across the music first; it catches my attention, and only then does the real work begin - finding out who recorded it, where the musicians or their families are today, who holds the rights, and whether the original recordings still exist. In a way, every project becomes a small detective story, because you’re often looking for something that most people have already forgotten about. It’s the same with master tapes. Some recordings have survived in our state archives, while others are still with the musicians or their families, and sometimes you have to look for completely different sources. Of course, the ideal situation is to find the original master, but that isn’t always possible. Tracking down the best surviving source can become a major part of the reissue process itself. [caption id="attachment_57431" align="aligncenter" width="1460"] Anvar Kalandarov; image courtesy of the subject.[/caption] TCA: How difficult is it to establish who holds the rights to these recordings today, particularly when musicians, composers, Soviet state labels, archives, and...

Ferghana Valley

Cementing Peace in the Ferghana Valley

The Ferghana Peace Forum was just held in Tajikistan’s northern city of Guliston. There were some useful proposals and discussions during the September 28-29 event, but the greatest significance of this peace forum is that it happened at all. For most of the 35 years since the three countries that share the Ferghana Valley – Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan – became independent, the three governments were often at odds with each other, and the valley was the most dangerous part of Central Asia. Keeping the Momentum This was the second Ferghana Peace Forum. The first was in Uzbekistan’s eastern city of Ferghana on October 15-16, 2025. The title of that first forum was “Fergana Valley: Uniting Efforts for Peace and Progress,” and it followed the historic agreement the presidents of the three countries signed in Khujand, Tajikistan, on March 31, 2025, fixing the point where the borders of the three countries meet. The three presidents had met before at multilateral events, such as summits of the Commonwealth of Independent States or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. But the Khujand meeting was the first time just the presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan had met. The Ferghana Valley is one of the most densely populated and fertile areas in Central Asia. Its communities long predate the borders that now divide the valley. Those lines were drawn as internal Soviet administrative boundaries and became international frontiers after 1991. The discussions in Guliston were about how to expand cross-border movement, trade, and mutual development. The heads of the three provinces that border each other in the Ferghana Valley were in Guliston: Khairullo Bozorov from Uzbekistan’s Ferghana Province, Rajabboy Ahmadzoda from Tajikistan’s Sughd Region, and Mamirjan Rakhimov from Kyrgyzstan’s Batken Region. EU Special Representative for Central Asia Eduards Stiprais also attended and addressed the forum, alongside representatives from the EU, OSCE, UN, and other international organizations, along with officials and experts from the three Central Asian countries. Eldor Aripov, Director of the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of Uzbekistan, summed up the purpose of the Guliston gathering, saying it was intended to turn mutual understanding into joint initiatives and projects. Among the main goals were facilitating cross-border movement, establishing joint ventures and facilities, educational exchanges between university students in Ferghana Valley cities, and even hosting children from neighboring countries at summer camps. These might seem like small matters, but for those who have watched events in the Ferghana Valley since independence in 1991, they mark a striking change. The third Ferghana Peace Forum will be held in Kyrgyzstan in 2027. The Most Dangerous Area in Central Asia The borders drawn in Moscow during the years Central Asia was part of the USSR were quickly disputed throughout the region after the Soviet Union disintegrated. Nowhere was this more pronounced than in the Ferghana Valley, and predictably so. Agriculture and livestock remain important to livelihoods across much of the valley, so disputes over agricultural land and access to water were inevitable. As the...

Official Visit

Tokayev in Berlin: Ukraine, Putin, and Germany’s Growing Economic Interest in Kazakhstan

The war in Ukraine, Kazakhstan’s relations with Russia, energy, and Germany’s growing interest in Central Asia’s raw materials were all on the agenda during Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s visit to Berlin on September 29. The Kazakh president again called for a freeze on hostilities in Ukraine before moving toward diplomacy, while emphasizing Kazakhstan’s close ties with Russia. Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Moscow had so far shown no willingness to engage in substantive peace talks. The two sides also discussed increasing supplies of Kazakh oil, critical minerals, German investment, and transport routes between Asia and Europe. After the meeting, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the two leaders had discussed Russia and its war against Ukraine “very intensively.” Berlin’s position is that Moscow must end the war and enter serious negotiations involving Ukraine and European states. “The aim of such peace negotiations must be a sovereign Ukraine in a secure Europe,” Merz said. Until Russia is ready for such a peace, he added, Germany will continue to support Kyiv. Reiterating his position, Tokayev advocated a different sequence. He said he did not consider a rapid end to the war realistic under current conditions and called for first freezing hostilities in Ukraine and then moving toward diplomacy and negotiations. The Kazakh president also reaffirmed his commitment to the UN Charter and respect for the territorial integrity of states, while stressing his respect for the Ukrainian people, their culture, history, traditions, and language. A similar position was set out in a joint declaration by Tokayev and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The two expressed support for a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine in accordance with the UN Charter and underscored their respect for the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of states. At the press conference with Merz, however, Tokayev also emphasized Kazakhstan’s close relationship with Moscow. He said he had “very good contact” with Putin, and described the Russian president as an “outstanding political figure.” Tokayev also explained Kazakhstan’s relationship with Russia in geographical and demographic terms. The two countries share a border of more than 7,500 kilometers, and Kazakhstan has a large ethnic Russian population. “Whatever may happen on the territory of Ukraine, we never forget that both Russia and Ukraine are our good friends,” Tokayev said. Merz thanked Kazakhstan for helping prevent the circumvention of sanctions against Russia, describing this as “work for peace.” Kazakhstan has not joined Western sanctions against Russia, but has repeatedly said it will not allow its territory to be used to circumvent them. For the European Union, controls on re-exports through third countries have taken on greater importance since 2022, as Russia’s trade with several Central Asian states increased sharply. Oil featured prominently in the economic discussions. Merz said Germany was interested in receiving more crude from Kazakhstan to replace Russian oil. “We are looking for ways to diversify our supply relationships, and Kazakhstan is an important building block in this region of the world,” the chancellor said. Kazakhstan began supplying crude to the PCK refinery in Schwedt in...

Central Asia-U.S. Relations

Opinion: Central Asia Is More Than Minerals

For years, Central Asia was one of those regions that Washington periodically rediscovered and then forgot. Officials visited and announced new initiatives, but the relationship hardly changed. That is no longer the case. Many pundits see the current surge of American interest in Central Asia through the lens of transactional foreign policy: nowadays the focus has been on critical minerals, supply-chain security, and competition with China. Valid so far as it goes, this approach misses the larger story. Central Asia is not suddenly important because of its minerals or because Washington has decided that it is. Increasingly, Washington must pay attention to Central Asia because the region itself is changing, and in largely positive directions. Over three decades, American investors largely dismissed the region as too poorly governed and too distant. Now the region itself is working to change the conditions that made it unattractive. The transformation is far from complete, but it is real. When the Central Asian states emerged from the Soviet Union in 1991, they faced grave disadvantages. State enterprises dominated their economies, and they fell short of Western investors’ expectations in both the rule of law and transparency. While such problems have not disappeared, they are everywhere being worked on. Uzbekistan provides the clearest example. Since 2017, Tashkent has undertaken reforms to liberalize its economy and improve the environment for private investment. The World Bank now describes Uzbekistan as one of the world's top reformers. Kazakhstan has also built more sophisticated financial and regulatory institutions. Its goal is to position itself as a regional hub for logistics, energy, and finance. The World Bank's new 2026–31 country strategy emphasizes a "business-ready Kazakhstan," with greater private-sector participation, improved infrastructure, and better natural-resource management. The pace of change in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan has been slower, for understandable reasons. Kyrgyzstan’s early political reforms long left the government rudderless, Tajikistan endured a five-year civil war, and Turkmenistan was stymied by Russia’s total control of its gas industry. Now these countries, too, are belatedly advancing. Central Asia has not become Switzerland. Corruption, political interference, and governance problems still afflict the countries’ economies, and the OECD continues to identify these as important obstacles to investment. The question is not whether Central Asia has solved these problems but whether it has changed enough to become investable. The answer increasingly is yes, it has. Moscow's offensive in Ukraine accelerated changes Washington had sought for decades. Secondary sanctions compelled Central Asians to develop new commercial avenues not subject to international restrictions. While Central Asian governments maintain important relations with Russia, they all seek pragmatic alternatives that reduce their former reliance on Moscow. The countries are expanding regional cooperation while reaching across the Caspian to the South Caucasus and beyond. The resulting Middle Corridor promises direct access to global markets. The measure of its success will be whether Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan gain trans-Caspian pipelines to transport their resources directly to Europe. In short, Central Asia is doing what Washington has long wanted it to do: become more...