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Autonomous cluster fund «Astana Hub»

Nov. 4, 2025 17:49

A Young Founder Created a Startup to Prevent Electricity Theft. Her Project Is Already Valued at $5 Million

Najima Noeftova is from Dushanbe. Initially, she never planned to work in tech and earned a degree in sociology. However, after graduating, she became a recruiter in an IT company and soon realized she wanted to be inside the industry. She joined the Tajik startup zypl.ai, where she worked her way up from CEO assistant to Director of the Executive Office. Since late 2024, she has been developing her own project, epsilon3.ai, which builds predictive models primarily for the GovTech sector.
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Autonomous cluster fund «Astana Hub»

Nov. 3, 2025 15:06

Young Robotics Team from Kazakhstan Becomes Four-Time World Champion in Panama

The national robotics team of Kazakhstan has once again achieved a stunning victory, winning its fourth consecutive title at the FIRST Global Challenge (FGC) 2025 World Championship in Panama City. Competing among 190 countries, our students took first place and claimed the two highest awards: the GRAND CHALLENGE AWARD (GOLD) and the ALBERT EINSTEIN AWARD (GOLD).
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Autonomous cluster fund «Astana Hub»

Nov. 3, 2025 00:00

How a Young Man Is Building a Startup Database for All of Central Asia

Umed Rakhimov became interested in computer science while still at school and chose an IT major for university. From his first year, he worked at startups, and later launched his own project, vazifa.tj, a job search service in Tajikistan. The solution gained wide popularity in the country; however, at the beginning of this year, Umed sold the company and focused on launching Stanbase — a data platform that brings together innovative startups, as well as venture and angel investors across Central Asia, all in one place.
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Autonomous cluster fund «Astana Hub»

Oct. 31, 2025 00:00

Guys from Tashkent Built AI Cameras for Retail Stores and Raised $1.8 Million

Shakhzod Umirzakov and Jamshid Khakimjonov from Tashkent launched the startup TASS Vision in 2021. The team developed AI-powered cameras for retail stores that use computer vision to analyze foot traffic, determine customers’ age and gender, and help store owners increase revenue. Today, TASS Vision’s solutions are installed in more than 2,000 stores across 10 countries, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Peru, and Turkey. To date, the startup has raised $1.8 million in investment.

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Autonomous cluster fund «Astana Hub»

Oct. 30, 2025 18:10

Kazakh Startup Aman Wins at STEPPE Awards 2025

The ceremony for the second national award in the creative industries, STEPPE Awards 2025, took place in Almaty. One of the evening’s highlights was the announcement of the winner in the category “Creative IT – Best New IT Project.” The award went to Aman, a startup participating in Hero Training, an international acceleration program implemented in partnership with Draper University.
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Autonomous cluster fund «Astana Hub»

Oct. 30, 2025 16:42

Delegation of the German Bundestag Visits Astana Hub

A delegation of members of the Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany, led by Carsten Müller, Acting Chairman of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Consumer Protection, paid a working visit to the international innovation cluster Astana Hub.
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Autonomous cluster fund «Astana Hub»

Oct. 29, 2025 18:13

US Delegation Visits alem.ai and Explores Kazakhstan’s AI Ecosystem

As part of an official visit to Kazakhstan, a United States delegation led by Special Envoy of the President of the United States Sergio Gor visited the alem.ai Artificial Intelligence Center, where they learned about the country’s startup ecosystem and technological projects.
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Autonomous cluster fund «Astana Hub»

Oct. 28, 2025 18:10

“We invested $200,000 of our own money.” How a startup from Uzbekistan secured $12 million from a major bank

Rustam Khamdamov, Vadim Zakharyan and Dzhahongir Narzullaev from Tashkent were building careers in a telecom company when they saw the potential in developing an IT platform for retail stores. That’s when the colleagues launched the startup BILLZ. Today it has 5,000 clients across Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. And this year, BILLZ closed a deal with the Georgian bank TBC: for $12 million, the startup sold a controlling stake and transitioned from a local player into part of a major banking ecosystem. As part of the joint Digital Business and Astana Hub project “100 Startup Stories of Central Asia,” Digital Business spoke with Rustam Khamdamov about launching the product and the early mistakes that cost the company time and money. He also shared why the team spent nights in retail stores, what features customers appreciate most, how a chance breakfast meeting led to a multimillion-dollar deal, and why the founders had no doubts about becoming part of a bank.
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Autonomous cluster fund «Astana Hub»

Oct. 28, 2025 00:00

He Launched a Startup in the U.S. and Has Already Raised $2.7 Million: The Story of an IT Entrepreneur from Tashkent

Akmal Payziev from Tashkent has been in business for more than 20 years. Over that time, he has founded five companies, two of which resulted in successful exits—the startups were acquired by major market players. Today, Akmal is developing a new venture called Numeo AI, which builds specialized AI agents for logistics and freight transportation.
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Autonomous cluster fund «Astana Hub»

Oct. 24, 2025 10:15

How Tomorrow School Is Shaping a New Generation of IT Specialists

Last year, the international innovation cluster Astana Hub launched Tomorrow School, a unique educational initiative and the first AI-focused peer-to-peer school in Kazakhstan. Exactly one year later, it has grown beyond an educational platform into a strong international community of 303 students from Kazakhstan, the United States, Russia, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.
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