At the TechCrunch Disrupt site, the Silkroad Innovation Hub presented an exclusive pavilion to investors from Silicon Valley, in which 14 startups from Central Eurasia announced themselves on the global stage. Of these, 6 are Kazakh - Citix, Cyborgbase, TengriLights, Falcon.ai, Kscooter and Rhinotales.

Also, CerebraAI, a Kazakh startup specializing in artificial intelligence and neuroradiology for automated stroke diagnosis, is taking part in the world's largest startup competition, Startup Battlefield 200, as part of TechCrunch Disrupt 2023.

“I am confident that the countries of Central Eurasia can become a source of new international unicorns. Indeed, despite our enormous potential, our startup founders are underrepresented and largely unsupported in the global venture market. In order to realize the potential of the region at the global level, it is necessary to implement a number of important activities, including, first of all, supporting our startups abroad. That is why we created Silkroad Innovation Hub to become a center of attraction and promotion of startups and talents from Central Eurasia. Today at TechCrunch Disrupt, where startups are evaluated by investors whose total investment portfolio exceeds $26 billion, our guys represent the region with dignity, and this is just the beginning,” said Aset Abdualiev, founder and CEO of Silkroad Innovation Hub.

The impressive potential and diversity of the region was also confirmed by startups from Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - oblako.me, Wiot, Doki, Zypl.ai, MyID, IMAN, Mohirdev and Workly. It should be noted that most of the startups presented at the event are graduates of Astana Hub acceleration programs and are currently scaling their projects in global markets.

As part of TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, a panel session “The New Digital Silk Road: From Central Eurasia to Silicon Valley” was organized, the key speakers of which were Askar Zhambakin, Vice Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Abdulakhad Kuchkarov, executive director of IT Park Uzbekistan; Inara Valieva, acting chairman of IDDA.

During the discussion in the session, where experts discussed the possibilities of cooperation between regions in the field of technology, it was noted that for centuries, traders from the Far East crossed the Great Silk Road, transporting valuable goods and ideas to the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. Now its digital version - Silkroad Innovation Hub - connects entrepreneurs, founders and startups in the growing IT and technology ecosystem of Central Eurasia.

The organizers of the Silkroad Innovation Hub project in Silicon Valley encourage Central Eurasian startups to join the innovation community and use the opportunities provided to create and develop promising technology projects. They emphasize that by joining forces, ambitious results can be achieved in the next 5-7 years: 5 Unicorns, $300 million in investments in startups and $1.5 billion in exports of IT services from the region.

Let us recall that within the framework of the Digital Bridge 2022 forum, held in the capital of Kazakhstan, a multilateral Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between technology parks of the Turkic countries in the development of the innovation ecosystem of the UTC member states. In November 2022, during the UTG summit in Samarkand, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed the initiative to create a Center for Digitalization of Turkic Countries based on Astana Hub, as well as the creation of a venture fund for Turkic countries. As part of this initiative, on June 20, 2023, a meeting of the ministers of digitalization of the UTC member states was held, where, in particular, the issue of participation of partners from Central Eurasia and UTC countries in the Silkroad Innovation Hub program was discussed.

 About TechCrunch Disrupt:

TechCrunch Disrupt is one of the leading international events for the startup community, bringing together entrepreneurs, investors and journalists from around the world each year to discuss the latest trends and innovations in the technology world. The event has gained a reputation as a place where startups can gain global recognition. For example, successful companies like Dropbox and Fitbit first presented their innovations at TechCrunch Disrupt and later became unicorns, reaching billion-dollar valuations.

 About Silkroad Innovation Hub:

Silkroad Innovation Hub is a community in Silicon Valley (Palo Alto, California, USA) for founders and startups from Central Eurasia. Its mission is to create a new digital silk road and promote the region's talent on the world stage. The official opening of the Silkroad Innovation Hub took place on September 15, 2023.