Female tech founders face a lot more challenges globally, and Kyrgyzstan’s startup ecosystem is unfortunately no exception. Being a nascent stage ecosystem makes things even worse: according to IFC, in emerging markets, only 11% of seed funding goes to startups with women on their founding team. Despite such significant barriers, there is a generation of female founders with global ambitions. One of them is Gulnaza Khalmanbetova, who is using technology to make pregnancy and motherhood more peaceful.
Mama Space provides an ecosystem for pregnancy and motherhood. Its pregnancy tracker covers every stage, providing an entire library of up-to-date, medically approved articles and educational videos. An AI chatbot can answer questions about pregnancy with evidence-based knowledge. And there is a loyal online community where every mother can find support and understanding.
“It was my second experience of pregnancy that prompted me to create the app. My second pregnancy was complicated and could have ended in tragedy. During one of the surgeries, in the fifth month of pregnancy, I promised myself that if everything went well for me and my unborn son, I would do everything possible to ensure that every mother could find support and not be left alone with her problems. This is how the idea of Mama Space was born — a platform designed so that every woman can go through the stages of motherhood with reliable informational support,” recalled Gulnaza Khalmanbetova, CEO and Founder of Mama Space.
All images provided by Mama Space
In December 2025, during the Digital Startup Awards in Tashkent, Mama Space was named “Best Women-Founded Startup” — one of the many awards Mama Space has collected so far.
Khalmanbetova had previously had a successful career in the international development sector. Those organising, optimizing, and networking skills came in handy when entering the unpredictable path of a startup founder, with an aim to help women who are planning a pregnancy, are currently pregnant, or have recently given birth.
One of the sources of ideas for startup founders is trying to solve problems they face themselves. This was exactly the case with Mama Space. During her first pregnancy, which brought anxiety and difficulties with finding proper information, Khalmanbetova was inspired to organise a community of mothers with an event to celebrate pregnancy and motherhood. She named the event Mama Fest, which now brings together hundreds of women to celebrate motherhood.
Mama Space is a textbook example of a successful launch. The MVP — the minimal viable product — was ready in three months, despite the fact that Khalmanbetova and her team still had their full-time jobs. And Khalmanbetova, traditionally for startup founders, has to wear a number of hats and utilise all her skills, from programming and business development to graphic design and running social media.
Given that the product is directly related to health, the startup relies on science and professional doctors. Mama Space partners with the Kyrgyz Association of Obstetricians, Gynecologists, and Neonatologists.
In June 2024, Mama Space won the ‘Unicorn from KG’ incubation program run by the High Technology Park of the Kyrgyz Republic. As a result, the team took part in the five-week Hero Training program by Draper University in Silicon Valley. In September the same year, Mama Space was awarded 2nd place during the regional Central Asian finals of the largest global startup contest for women, She Loves Tech. In February 202,5 Mama Space made it to the Top 10 of the Aurora Tech Award by inDrive out of 2,018 applications from 116 countries.
The preliminary goal of Mama Space is to become Central Asia’s number 1 parenting app. But Central Asia is not the final destination — Khalmanbetova aims to go global. She tells The Times of Central Asia: “Mama Space is not just a business for me — it’s my way of caring, supporting, and holding space for mothers. While many startups are driven by profit, I am driven by impact. I truly believe that real sustainability grows from meaningful impact.”
