The Supernova All-Stars semifinal featured 100 startups from around the world, including three teams from Kazakhstan: ARLAN BIOTECH, Beksar, and Qala AI Ltd. Following the selection process, 10 teams advanced to the final. The entries were evaluated by an international jury composed of venture capitalists, industry experts, and corporate fund representatives. Key judging criteria included technological innovation, market potential, business model sustainability, product readiness, and team expertise.

ARLAN BIOTECH presented a breakthrough solution for accelerating drug development using its proprietary generative AI platform. The platform can generate precise antibody sequences for specific protein targets within minutes — reducing research timelines by up to six months and saving pharmaceutical companies millions in development costs. The technology is built on a proprietary AI model and synthetic biomedical data, enabling parallel development of dozens of drug candidates. The startup was founded by a PhD in biomedical engineering, a programmer with over 10 years of experience in biotech entrepreneurship, and an AI expert with six years of experience developing medical AI solutions.

“It’s worth noting that all three winning startups are deeptech projects founded by PhDs — a clear sign that the tech landscape is shifting toward science-driven innovation. I strongly believe in the potential of deeptech entrepreneurs from our region, especially from Kazakhstan. More and more, I hear Central Asia being named among the world’s most promising emerging startup ecosystems. My thanks go to Astana Hub and the Ministry of Digital Development of Kazakhstan for their support, which allowed us to represent Kazakhstan on this global stage,” said Bolat Sultankulov, co-founder of ARLAN BIOTECH.

As a reminder, GITEX Europe 2025 took place in Berlin from May 21–23. As part of the Central Asian Innovation Hubs alliance between Astana Hub and IT Park Uzbekistan, 17 startups from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan were featured. During the opening day of the forum, it was also announced that GITEX Central Asia & Caucasus x Ai Everything Kazakhstan will be held for the first time in Astana from June 2–4, 2026, and will become an annual event.