Entrepreneurship - The Times Of Central Asia

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UNDP

How Central Asian Small Businesses Are Earning More From Local Products

For Ikhtiyor Alimov, finding foreign buyers was only part of the challenge. His dried-fruit business in northern Tajikistan also needed enough equipment to fill its orders. Alimov founded Mevai Zarrin in Isfara with eight workers and handmade machinery. Its processing capacity eventually reached 200 kilograms a day, but manual production limited further growth. With the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the company upgraded its equipment and packaging. It can now process 600–650 kilograms daily, according to the organization’s account of its development. “We were able to reduce our product waste by 20%,” Alimov said in UNDP’s regional account of the program. Across Central Asia, small producers face similar difficulties. Processing a harvest before selling it can increase producers’ earnings, but expansion requires investment that many family businesses struggle to afford. The Finland-funded Aid for Trade initiative, implemented by the UNDP, is closing after more than 15 years of work across Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. UNDP and Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of the Economy presented results in Bishkek on September 24, discussing which forms of support should continue beyond 2026. In Tajikistan, UNDP reported that the initiative helped create 147 jobs, including 90 for women. At Mevai Zarrin, support depended partly on buying fruit from local farmers and connecting producers in southern Tajikistan with processors in the north. The company signed contracts with ten farming households in Khatlon, securing supplies while giving growers another outlet for their harvests. Pooling smaller harvests can make deliveries large enough for a processor to buy. For farmers, those arrangements offer a route beyond nearby markets without requiring each household to become an exporter. Mevai Zarrin also obtained FSSC 22000 food safety certification to help it pursue new customers. In UNDP’s September profile, Alimov said the company had sent samples to prospective buyers in Germany and was awaiting their response. Processing the Harvest In Uzbekistan’s Andijan region, Dildora Nurmatova’s family business, ErElDi, has increased its profits by processing peanuts. Nurmatova began investigating the crop during her agricultural studies. By 2024, her enterprise was harvesting five metric tons from one hectare. According to UNDP’s regional retrospective, selling processed snacks rather than raw peanuts tripled her profits. [caption id="attachment_57615" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Dildora Nurmatova in her peanut field in Uzbekistan’s Andijan region. Image: Elyor Nemat, UNDP Uzbekistan[/caption] Aid for Trade supplied processing and packaging equipment, alongside a separate workshop and a three-phase electricity connection. Business advice helped the family develop products and organize production. The company supplies packaged peanuts to Andijan’s wholesale market. Lower-grade kernels go into milled products for bakeries and ice-cream producers, giving the family a market for material that cannot be sold as premium snacks. ErElDi’s customers are close to home. The family can earn more from its harvest by doing the processing itself, before it considers the costs of finding buyers abroad. In Kyrgyzstan, UNDP reported that the project contributed to 837 new jobs, including 548 for women, and supported export contracts worth $17.1 million. [caption id="attachment_57610" align="aligncenter" width="2400"] Beekeepers inspect a honeycomb at...

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...

ICT Week Uzbekistan 2026

Golden Gate Ventures Plans Two-Year Program for Central Asian Startups in Uzbekistan

Singapore-based venture capital firm Golden Gate Ventures plans to launch a two-year program in Uzbekistan for 20 startup founders from across Central Asia, giving them access to mentors and the fund’s international network. Michael Lints, MENA founding partner at Golden Gate Ventures, announced the initiative during ICT Week Uzbekistan 2026, held in Tashkent from September 22 to 25. The program will be launched with IT Park Uzbekistan, while details of the application and selection process are expected later. Lints told The Times of Central Asia that Golden Gate Ventures had also opened an office in Tashkent in June and now plans to invest in Uzbek startups. “We have strong confidence in the potential of your country, the startup founders we are meeting here, and the companies they are building,” he said. “Last year, IT Park invited us, and one year later, we have our own office here.” The two-year program will connect the selected founders with Golden Gate Ventures’ network in Asia, the Middle East, the United States, and Europe. Lints said the fund sees Uzbekistan developing into an important startup center in Central Asia. Startups featured prominently at ICT Week this year. The event was promoted under the “Land of Startups” concept, with more than 50 startups presenting their products to investors and potential partners. ICT Week’s official program also brought venture investors, including Golden Gate Ventures, Gobi Partners, 500 Global, SparkLabs, and other funds to its Startup & Venture Summit. Farrukh Erkinov, Director of Startup and Venture Ecosystem Development at IT Park Uzbekistan, told TCA that the number of international investors and startup organizations attending events in Tashkent has changed considerably in recent years. “A conversation at a stand can later turn into an order, while a presentation can become an investment partnership,” Erkinov said. “A team that has created a product can meet, right here, the people who can help them develop it.” [caption id="attachment_57199" align="aligncenter" width="1774"] Alif, an international fintech company in Central Asia with projects in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan, has a banner where visitors write their names or the names of their projects; image: ТСА[/caption] Among the regional participants was AI Academy from Kyrgyzstan. Product manager Emir Satykenov said the academy trains students in data engineering, data analytics, data science, machine learning, and AI engineering. According to Satykenov, more than 1,000 students have studied at the academy, while its wider AI community includes more than 2,500 people. Some courses are free, including programs for women and people who cannot afford tuition, with grants provided by Kyrgyzstan’s High Technology Park. The academy is also connected with Kyrgyz AI Research, whose developers are building open-source AI models for Kyrgyz, Kazakh, and other Central Asian languages. “Our AI model can work in Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and other Central Asian languages,” Satykenov said. “We also have an LLM model for text-to-text and image generation, and we are creating many open-source models in Kyrgyzstan.” [caption id="attachment_57201" align="aligncenter" width="1774"] The Huawei exhibition stand at ICT Week Uzbekistan 2026. Image: TCA[/caption] Elsewhere...

Business Registration

Registered Businesses in Kazakhstan Rise More Than 20% Despite Tax Reform

The number of registered businesses in Kazakhstan increased by more than 20% during the first half of 2026, according to government data, easing earlier concerns that the country’s new Tax Code would trigger widespread business closures. The growth came despite higher value-added tax (VAT) rates and tighter registration requirements introduced this year. During a government meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy Serik Zhumangarin said the number of registered business entities had reached 2.939 million by the end of June, up by nearly 499,000, or 20.4%, from the beginning of the year. The strongest increase came from individual entrepreneurs and self-employed workers. Their combined number rose from 1.86 million to 2.352 million over six months, while the number of self-employed workers reached 688,597. The expansion also coincided with improved fiscal performance. Government revenues increased by almost 16% during the reporting period, while VAT receipts were nearly 1.5 times as high as a year earlier, according to official figures. Growth was also recorded among corporate businesses. The number of registered legal entities increased from 579,756 to 587,117 during the first half of the year, while the number of VAT payers rose from 135,845 to 158,194. The figures indicate that businesses have largely adapted to the new tax environment despite concerns voiced before the reforms took effect. Earlier this year, analysts warned that higher taxes and stricter registration rules could force many small businesses to close, but the first six months of data have not supported those expectations. The structure of Kazakhstan’s small and medium-sized business sector also remained largely unchanged. More than 60% of all SMEs continue to operate in trade and agriculture, as well as other services. These remain the country’s largest entrepreneurial sectors. Growth varied across industries, reflecting differences in business activity. Among small legal entities, the mining sector recorded the fastest increase at 2.9%. Construction and agriculture both grew by 2.5%, while information and communications expanded by 2.4%. The figures indicate continued investment in traditional industries and digital services. Among medium-sized enterprises, real estate posted the strongest growth at 5.8%, nearly double the pace of the next-fastest sector. Finance and insurance grew by 3.2%, while other service industries expanded by 3.1%, reflecting continued demand in domestically oriented sectors. The figures also point to the growing role of small and medium-sized businesses in Kazakhstan’s economy. SMEs accounted for 40.9% of gross domestic product in 2025, up from 33.5% in 2021, according to official data. The sector has become an increasingly important source of investment and regional development, while contributing to economic diversification. Employment data reflect the same trend. During the first quarter of 2026, Kazakhstan had 9.4 million employed people, including 4.5 million working in small and medium-sized businesses. This means that nearly one in two employed people now works in the SME sector. The first-half data indicate that Kazakhstan’s business sector continued to expand despite a more demanding tax environment. While it remains too early to assess the long-term impact of the tax reform, the increase...

Entrepreneurship

Almaty Launches Startup Program to Attract Investment

Almaty has hosted the Almaty Investment Initiative, where city officials and private-sector representatives unveiled a new program aimed at fostering technology entrepreneurship. The initiative, implemented jointly by MOST Holding and the city administration’s Digitalization Department, seeks to attract international capital and develop a sustainable startup ecosystem. The program’s launch comes amid intensifying competition among regional urban centers for investment in the technology sector. Almaty aims to position itself as a gateway for projects targeting both the domestic market and export-oriented growth. The acceleration program is designed to run for two years and will include nine thematic tracks supporting up to 250 startups. Organizers plan to use a range of formats. These include the Investment Readiness Accelerator (IRA), which focuses on helping startups secure funding during the program, as well as an international off-site track in Shanghai intended for 10 startups planning to enter the Chinese market. Another component is the Soft Landing program, designed for foreign companies considering Kazakhstan as a base for regional expansion. Within the initiative, city authorities are expected to act as both regulators and potential customers for innovative solutions. Priority sectors include transportation, tourism, environmental technologies, energy, education, and healthcare. According to Olzhas Zhanabek, head of Almaty’s Digitalization Department, support for startups is seen as a tool for modernizing the city’s economic structure. “Our task is to create conditions for the growth of projects that can enter international markets and bring practical benefits to the city,” he told The Times of Central Asia. MOST Holding will serve as the program operator, facilitating connections between entrepreneurs, investors, and government agencies. Particular emphasis will be placed on solutions that can be integrated into the city’s infrastructure. Organizers say the initiative aims to attract around $60 million in investment for participating startups. In addition, approximately 45 projects are expected to enter foreign markets, while up to 15 startups may pilot and implement their solutions in Almaty. Pavel Koktyshev, co-founder and CEO of MOST Holding, said the program is intended to support startup development while ensuring practical implementation. “We want to bring together the city, businesses, and investors on a single platform. This is not just about preparing projects, but also about implementing solutions in the real economy,” he said. The event also addressed issues related to attracting foreign capital. Participants discussed opportunities linked to the infrastructure of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), as well as strategies for Kazakhstani companies seeking to enter global markets.

Entrepreneurship

Founder of inDrive Sees Kindred Spirit in Olympic Champion’s Father

Years ago, Stanislav Shaidorov, a former figure skating champion of Kazakhstan, sold his car to help pay for his son Mikhail’s training on the ice. After Mikhail won Olympic gold this month, the older Shaidorov was presented with an Audi Q8 by a businessman who had done the same thing for a different cause. “This story is personal for me,” said Arsen Tomsky, founder and CEO of the ride-hailing app inDrive, which operates in dozens of countries. “I did the same twice in my life — once to pay salaries when my first company had no money, and once to send the Yakutia esports team to a national championship when we couldn’t afford the tickets,” Tomsky said on Instagram. Yakutia is in Russia. Tomsky was born in Russia, moved many employees to Kazakhstan after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and obtained Kazakhstani citizenship in 2023. Forbes Kazakhstan ranked Tomsky as the 11th richest business executive in the country in 2025. Kazakhstan has been celebrating 21-year-old Mikhail Shaidorov’s achievement at the Winter Olympics in Milan – his country’s first gold medal in figure skating. His father is also getting recognition as a pillar of support earlier in his son’s career, when success was far from assured. “As the father and first coach, he helped Mikhail take his first steps on the ice rink and was always by his son's side during the most difficult moments of life,” President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said at a ceremony in Astana for the gold medal winner and his key supporters. “You went together through the winding path leading to the high peak,” Tokayev said to Stanislav Shaidorov on Wednesday. “Now you are seeing the fruits of your hard work and sweat, being honored and respected.” Tomsky, the inDrive founder, said he could relate to Stanislav Shaidorov’s decision to give up his car for his son’s dream. “In moments like that, you don’t think about the car,” the executive said. “You think about the future and the people you believe in.”