“We have been hosting Pizza Pitch for several years now, and for many teams this platform becomes their first step toward engaging in dialogue with investors and market experts. This year, we saw strong interest from startups—132 applications and highly competitive technology projects in the final. Astana Hub is systematically developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem by providing startups with access to educational, incubation, and acceleration programs, as well as international opportunities for scaling. Our goal is to create conditions in which promising technological solutions can grow and enter global markets,” said Valeriya Tyo, Managing Director of Astana Hub.
The winner of Pizza Pitch 2025 was CortexAI, a startup offering an AI-powered solution for matching donor kidneys and predicting the risk of transplant rejection based on biostatistics and biomathematics. The project aims to improve the accuracy of clinical decision-making and enhance the quality of medical care in the field of transplantology. According to the team, participation in and victory at Pizza Pitch marked an important milestone in the startup’s development, confirming strong demand for their technology and opening up new opportunities for further scaling. CortexAI received a cash prize of 700,000 KZT.
Second place went to BEST Vision Technologies, a Kazakhstani manufacturer of smart helmets and a developer of software solutions for industrial safety using AI assistants and LLM technologies. The startup received a cash prize of 500,000 KZT. Third place was awarded to Repetino, a platform for finding tutors and personalized online lessons that turns the process of choosing a teacher into a fast and intuitive experience through a TikTok-style video feed. Repetino was awarded 300,000 KZT.
The final of Pizza Pitch 2025 also featured the startups AI-target 7s, OcuWave, qMedAI, YerAI Mentor, Project I Barsum, Flyhunt.ai, Zhancare, and Argos, which presented solutions across artificial intelligence, healthcare, education, recruitment, energy, and service digitalization. Each project addressed pressing industry and social challenges and received professional feedback from experts.
The expert jury of Pizza Pitch 2025 included representatives of the investment and entrepreneurial community: Bolat Basheev, CEO of Axiom Capital; Dinmukhammed Kassen, Senior Investment Analyst at Astana Hub Ventures; Lyazzat Borankulova, Founder and CEO of Growth Vision Pro and Khan Tengri Innovation Hub; Nurassyl Jarbasov, Founder of Astana Venture Club; and Rysty Isagulova, Associate at Activat VC. In addition to evaluating the pitches, the experts actively engaged with the startups, asking practical questions and providing detailed feedback that became an important guide for the teams’ further development.
It is worth noting that all winners and participants of the event received prizes and support from partners. Pizza Pitch 2025 was supported by sponsors including Mobile Develop LLP, Movavi KZ LLP, Codelabs LLP, Fintech Solutions KZ LLP, Qazaqstan Identity & Security LLP, Sokol Soft LLP, Comita Digital Technologies LLP, Iberica Group LLP, Arctera LLP, CyberOne LLP, PBSOFT LLP, and Sector Tree LLP.
Pizza Pitch is an informal platform where early-stage technology startups practice public pitching, receive expert evaluation, and take their first steps toward attracting investment and achieving sustainable market growth.
“We have been hosting Pizza Pitch for several years now, and for many teams this platform becomes their first step toward engaging in dialogue with investors and market experts. This year, we saw strong interest from startups—132 applications and highly competitive technology projects in the final. Astana Hub is systematically developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem by providing startups with access to educational, incubation, and acceleration programs, as well as international opportunities for scaling. Our goal is to create conditions in which promising technological solutions can grow and enter global markets,” said Valeriya Tyo, Managing Director of Astana Hub.
The winner of Pizza Pitch 2025 was CortexAI, a startup offering an AI-powered solution for matching donor kidneys and predicting the risk of transplant rejection based on biostatistics and biomathematics. The project aims to improve the accuracy of clinical decision-making and enhance the quality of medical care in the field of transplantology. According to the team, participation in and victory at Pizza Pitch marked an important milestone in the startup’s development, confirming strong demand for their technology and opening up new opportunities for further scaling. CortexAI received a cash prize of 700,000 KZT.
Second place went to BEST Vision Technologies, a Kazakhstani manufacturer of smart helmets and a developer of software solutions for industrial safety using AI assistants and LLM technologies. The startup received a cash prize of 500,000 KZT. Third place was awarded to Repetino, a platform for finding tutors and personalized online lessons that turns the process of choosing a teacher into a fast and intuitive experience through a TikTok-style video feed. Repetino was awarded 300,000 KZT.
The final of Pizza Pitch 2025 also featured the startups AI-target 7s, OcuWave, qMedAI, YerAI Mentor, Project I Barsum, Flyhunt.ai, Zhancare, and Argos, which presented solutions across artificial intelligence, healthcare, education, recruitment, energy, and service digitalization. Each project addressed pressing industry and social challenges and received professional feedback from experts.
The expert jury of Pizza Pitch 2025 included representatives of the investment and entrepreneurial community: Bolat Basheev, CEO of Axiom Capital; Dinmukhammed Kassen, Senior Investment Analyst at Astana Hub Ventures; Lyazzat Borankulova, Founder and CEO of Growth Vision Pro and Khan Tengri Innovation Hub; Nurassyl Jarbasov, Founder of Astana Venture Club; and Rysty Isagulova, Associate at Activat VC. In addition to evaluating the pitches, the experts actively engaged with the startups, asking practical questions and providing detailed feedback that became an important guide for the teams’ further development.
It is worth noting that all winners and participants of the event received prizes and support from partners. Pizza Pitch 2025 was supported by sponsors including Mobile Develop LLP, Movavi KZ LLP, Codelabs LLP, Fintech Solutions KZ LLP, Qazaqstan Identity & Security LLP, Sokol Soft LLP, Comita Digital Technologies LLP, Iberica Group LLP, Arctera LLP, CyberOne LLP, PBSOFT LLP, and Sector Tree LLP.
Pizza Pitch is an informal platform where early-stage technology startups practice public pitching, receive expert evaluation, and take their first steps toward attracting investment and achieving sustainable market growth.
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