Astana Hub - The Times Of Central Asia

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Artificial intelligence

Kazakhstan’s AI Strategy: Eurasia’s Emerging Digital Power

Astana hosted AI & Digital Bridge 2026 on October 1–3, and NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang is scheduled to visit the capital on October 23 for a fireside chat with Zhaslan Madiyev, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development. Speaking to The Times of Central Asia earlier this month, Madiyev described a strategy that goes beyond building data centers. Kazakhstan’s digital development builds on capabilities it already has (a mature digital-government system, an established energy and industrial base, cross-border fiber and data-transit infrastructure, and a growing technology sector) to move beyond carrying data and exporting raw materials toward processing more data and producing more technology at home. The push aligns with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s call for Kazakhstan to become a fully digital nation, with artificial intelligence (AI) integrated across the economy. Digital Services and Startup Growth Madiyev began with what Kazakhstan already does, describing the country as known for advanced government technology, or GovTech. He cited Kazakhstan’s 24th-place ranking in the United Nations E-Government Development Index. More than 90% of public services are available online, around 90% of transactions are cashless, and approximately 40 personal documents have been digitized, he said. Digital documents have the same legal standing as physical ones, allowing people to use their phones when traveling, visiting banks, or accessing government services. An important part of that development was opening the government’s digital platform to banks rather than keeping public services within a single government application. Banks including Kaspi, Halyk, and Freedom can integrate those services into platforms customers already use, helping expand adoption and making services easier to access. Madiyev cited vehicle purchases and re-registration completed through an application in three to five minutes, mortgage approvals within a day, and a digital process that helps mothers register newborns and receive eligible benefits directly into their bank accounts. The aim is to organize services around people’s life events, with one completed process triggering the next rather than requiring separate applications to different institutions. He also pointed to Astana Hub, which has more than 2,500 registered startups and information technology (IT) companies exporting services to more than 100 countries. Its network extends across Kazakhstan and into Silicon Valley, Shanghai, and Dubai, with further expansion planned in Southeast Asia and Europe. Those overseas locations provide working space, access to investors, and acceleration programs to help companies enter international markets. A venture fund-of-funds, predominantly financed by the private sector and standing at approximately $115 million at the time of the interview, is intended to increase the financing available to regional startups. Madiyev said companies may need to raise capital six or seven times on the way to becoming unicorns, making access to successive funding rounds important. Connectivity That Serves the Region Kazakhstan already carries international traffic. Kazakhtelecom’s 2024 annual report records 200 gigabits per second (Gbps) of Europe–Uzbekistan transit capacity and 100 Gbps on the Europe–Kyrgyzstan route, while the Internet Society rates Kazakhstan’s upstream connection diversity as “Very Good.” Kazakhstan’s international internet capacity stood...

digital economy

How Kazakhstan Became Central Asia’s Digital Hub

From October 1 to 3, Astana will host the AI & Digital Bridge conference, which is expected to draw more than 20,000 participants and over 100 technology companies. The wider AI Month begins on September 23 with HackAlem AI powered by OpenAI. Earlier editions of Digital Bridge have drawn a total of more than 127,000 participants from over 100 countries. Kazakhstan can bring such a gathering together because two decades of development have created the institutional and commercial base for its present AI strategy. Advanced computing capacity and large-scale technological investment now reinforce that base. Building the Digital Base Well before artificial intelligence became a central policy concern, Kazakhstan began building the digital-state capacity that underpins its current position. The e-government program dates from the mid-2000s. The 2017 Digital Kazakhstan program broadened that effort by linking the transition to a digital state with four other priorities: digitalization of economic sectors, development of the Digital Silk Road, human-capital development, and the creation of an innovation ecosystem. Startup formation thereby entered policy not as a one-off technology initiative but as part of a wider program of institutional and economic digitization. Kazakhstan ranked 24th globally in the UN E-Government Development Index in 2024. By 2025, about 90% of public services were available online. By then, the eGov portal had more than 15 million registered users, while its mobile application had more than 11 million. Large-scale digital interaction between citizens and the state had thus become a daily fact of life before the present AI push began. Public services inhabit the same digital environment as ordinary commercial transactions. Kaspi.kz reported 15.7 million average monthly active users in Kazakhstan at the end of 2025 and about 764,000 active merchants. Its Super App integrates payments with finance and commerce; it also carries government services. Digitalization has become part of everyday consumer behavior. In July 2026, internet and mobile banking accounted for 77.6% of non-cash transactions by number and 89.6% by value. Commercial adoption has accustomed much of the population to carrying out both routine transactions and more significant business transfers through digital systems. Infrastructure spending alone would not have produced the same result without the surrounding policy and commercial environment. Almaty supplies the financial and corporate side of the ecosystem, complementing Astana’s policy and startup institutions. Together, the two cities anchor an economy accounting for more than half of Central Asia’s GDP. Kazakhstan also holds roughly two-thirds of the region’s inward foreign investment stock, according to TCA’s Central Asia Balance Sheet. Institutional Concentration These developments acquired an institutional center through Astana Hub, established in 2018. It brings firms and founders into the same network as investors. Participation brings concrete operating advantages, including tax preferences and simplified arrangements for hiring foreign specialists. Companies may hire such specialists without a numerical limit, with work visas available for up to five years. They can also enter incubation or acceleration programs and obtain access to financing mechanisms. A 2026 World Bank appraisal described Kazakhstan as having built a credible technology-driven...

Smart Cities

Astana’s WIPO City of Innovation Bid Reaches Final 15

Astana is the only Central Asian city among 15 finalists for the inaugural World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) City of Innovation Award. WIPO, a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN), announced the finalists on September 22. Shanghai, Moscow, and Liverpool are among the other cities competing for the award. The award focuses on what cities pledge to do over the following 12 months rather than what they have already achieved. Judges consider the ambition of those plans, how well they fit each city’s circumstances, and whether they can realistically be carried out. Astana’s submission is heavily focused on technology. The city proposes an artificial intelligence- and data-enabled Smart City platform and a single digital gateway for personalized public services, alongside projects intended to improve accessibility and sustainability. Those plans build on several years of investment in the capital’s digital infrastructure. Astana has been selected three times for the Intelligent Community Forum’s Smart21 Communities of the Year, in 2015, 2017, and 2023. The program recognizes cities and regions using connectivity, technology, and knowledge-based development to improve their economies and communities. A much larger smart-city project began in February 2025 when the city signed a six-year, $190 million agreement with Presight to introduce artificial intelligence across urban infrastructure, traffic management, and public services. The project includes a digital twin of the capital, bringing together information from city systems and sensors to support planning and day-to-day management. The project is being developed alongside a wider technology ecosystem. As The Times of Central Asia has reported, Astana Hub has more than 2,200 companies in its ecosystem, while the Alem.ai International Artificial Intelligence Center brings together startups, researchers, technology companies, and government projects. Presight opened its first Central Asian research and development laboratory at Alem.ai in October 2025, with smart-city applications among its areas of work. The WIPO nomination comes as Astana rolls out a model of city management built around artificial intelligence, connected infrastructure, and data. An independent international jury will choose up to three winners. They will be announced on October 12 at WIPO headquarters in Geneva, on the margins of the sixth UN Forum of Mayors.

Venture capital

How a New Generation of Startups From Kazakhstan Attracted International Investors

A software engineering team writes code in Almaty for a parent company incorporated in Delaware. Most of its revenue comes from customers in the United States and Singapore, with the United Kingdom another important market. Until recently, this business model was unusual in Kazakhstan. It is now becoming more common as entrepreneurs launch international companies from the outset rather than focus solely on the domestic market. Rather than adapt foreign products for Kazakhstan’s population of about 20 million, these founders are developing technology for customers abroad. Their success is drawing interest from international venture capital firms and raising Kazakhstan’s profile as a source of high-growth technology companies. Growth Measured in Numbers The latest Startups and Venture Capital in Central Asia 2026 report by RISE Research shows how quickly Kazakhstan’s venture sector is growing. Venture investment reached $209 million in 2025, nearly three times the $71 million raised a year earlier. The figure also exceeded the combined total elsewhere in Central Asia. The aggregate valuation of funded startups in Kazakhstan rose to $2.16 billion. RISE Research also found that U.S.-oriented startups with roots in Kazakhstan raised more than $214 million in 2025. This helps explain the rise in international interest. Venture funds are backing companies built for global markets rather than businesses dependent on a relatively small domestic customer base. Among the best-known examples is Higgsfield AI, which develops software for creating and editing AI-generated video. The company raised $50 million in Series A financing in September 2025. An $80 million extension in January 2026 brought the round to more than $130 million and valued the company at over $1.3 billion, confirming its status as Kazakhstan’s first unicorn. Cerebra AI develops software that analyzes CT scans to help clinicians detect ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes. The platform uses the ASPECTS scale and can return an analysis within minutes. Codiplay supplies educational software and Internet of Things kits used to teach programming and hands-on electronics in 13 countries, including South Korea and the UK. The company raised $9 million in Series A financing in January 2025. Parqour develops parking management software with automated license plate recognition. Its systems operate in 22 countries and cover more than 300 parking areas. These companies work in different fields, but their businesses are built mainly around software and intellectual property, even where hardware is part of the product. That makes expansion abroad less capital-intensive and helps explain their appeal to foreign investors. Why Investors Are Paying Attention Now Kazakhstan’s emergence as Central Asia’s leading venture capital market did not happen overnight. The record investment figures of 2025 followed several years of work in the startup sector, including Astana Hub’s accelerator programs and tax incentives. More founders also began developing products for international markets. One clear sign was international recognition. Three startups with founders from Kazakhstan were accepted into Y Combinator in 2025, matching the total accepted in all previous years combined, according to RISE Research. For international investors, acceptance into the Silicon Valley accelerator provides external validation as...

Science

Plans Underway to Launch Humanoid Robot Production in Astana

Plans are underway to launch humanoid robot production in Astana at the Astana Hub International Technology Park, Minister of Digital Development and Artificial Intelligence Zhaslan Madiev announced at a government meeting. According to Madiev, Astana Hub remains a key institution for fostering innovative entrepreneurship in Kazakhstan. The technology park runs acceleration programs, including AI’preneurs, aimed at launching startups in the field of artificial intelligence. Since September 2024, 35 AI startups have been established through the program’s three cohorts. In collaboration with the city authorities, the Astana Innovations Accelerator program is also being implemented. It focuses on integrating startups into urban infrastructure and helping them secure commercial contracts. Following a competitive selection process, eight projects have received funding. The minister also reported that an “Exponential Cluster” is being developed at the technology park, an innovation platform designed to bring together science, startups, and industry. As part of this initiative, a network of technology centers is being created, covering areas such as robotics, unmanned systems, cybersecurity, medicine, and industrial applications. A humanoid robotics laboratory has already been launched at the Robotics Center. Projects include the development of teleoperation systems for robot control and the integration of robots with the AlemLLM language model for user interaction. Special attention is being given to unmanned technologies. According to Madiev, Kazakhstan plans to launch a pilot project for autonomous vehicles involving international companies in the second quarter of 2026. A separate private initiative to deploy delivery drones is also underway. At the Drone Center, construction of a “phygital” arena, combining physical and digital environments, and infrastructure for training unmanned aerial vehicle operators is nearing completion. All Astana Hub technology centers are expected to be operational by the end of the year. The ministry expects the cluster to support the launch of up to 500 startups annually, including more than 100 hardware projects, and to position Astana as a regional innovation hub. According to official data, by 2025 Astana Hub residents had created more than 32,500 jobs. A total of 537 companies export IT services to 111 countries, with export volumes reaching $681 million, an increase of 44% compared to the previous year. The Times of Central Asia previously reported that the Chinese company AgiBot plans to launch the production and deployment of industrial robots in Kazakhstan.

Startups

Kazakh Startup Defect AI Accepted into StartX Accelerator at Stanford University

Kazakhstan-based startup Defect AI, part of the Astana Hub ecosystem, has been selected for the spring 2026 cohort of the StartX accelerator at Stanford University. The program is considered one of the most competitive in Silicon Valley and brings together promising technology projects from around the world. The platform developed by the startup uses artificial intelligence to analyze medical documentation. According to the developers, the algorithm can reduce the time spent on manual document verification by up to 95%. The service is designed to help medical organizations comply with regulatory requirements and standards while reducing the administrative burden on doctors. The product is positioned as an AI assistant that structures documentation and processes large volumes of medical data without requiring additional staff. The startup operates internationally under the brand name Rette, derived from the Kazakh word “retteu,” meaning “to put in order.” Experience gained from implementing the technology in Kazakhstan allowed the team to test the product in a real healthcare system. However, the company’s main strategic focus is now shifting to the U.S. market. The Defect AI team operates globally, with key employees based in Kazakhstan, the U.S., Japan, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The team includes specialists with experience at Meta, Google, and Microsoft. Through its participation in the StartX program, the startup has formed an advisory board that includes practicing doctors and medical technology investors. Co-founder Sanzhar Myrzagalym said the road to the accelerator was a long one. The team applied four times before being accepted into the program.