As part of the joint project by Digital Business and Astana Hub, “100 Startup Stories of Central Asia,” we spoke with Abdumalik about the specifics of the flower business niche, an amusing incident during bouquet delivery, and the $100,000 grant he received for winning a presidential competition.
“The Idea for Our Startup Came Up in London”
— Tell us about yourself: what was your path into the IT industry like?
— I grew up in the Uzbek city of Karshi (Kashkadarya region; population about 270,000), and moved to Tashkent to study at the Presidential University “New Uzbekistan,” majoring in Software Engineering. That’s also where I met Nurislombek Makhkamjonkhojizoda, my future co-founder at OYGUL. Together, we built the first student union—something like a bridge between students and the university administration. We were part of the very first cohort at the university, so there were no such organizations at the time.
At the end of his second year, Nurislombek launched a successful startup—OYTICKET, a cinema ticket aggregator across Tashkent. The project gained a lot of hype because it appeared during the height of “Barbenheimer” (in the summer of 2023, two big-budget films—Barbie and Oppenheimer—were released at the same time; the internet coined the term “Barbenheimer” to joke about the competition between the two—Digital Business note).
When the aggregator started growing rapidly, Nurislombek said he wanted to expand further. At that time, I was working in UX/UI design, and he suggested I join him to develop a new project.
— Did you immediately start working on a flower marketplace?
— Yes. Nurislombek introduced me to two other co-founders—Temur Kasimov and Asilbek Akbarov. The idea of a flower marketplace came from Asilbek: he studies in London and once wanted to order a bouquet for his sister in Tashkent. It turned out to be difficult to negotiate with stores and complete the payment. That’s when Asilbek realized the process could be greatly simplified. That’s how OYGUL started.
At first, I worked on UX/UI. But in a startup like this, after 3–4 months, there’s almost no work left for a designer. So I suggested taking over all operations—negotiating with flower shops. I already had relevant experience: when we were building the student union, I handled almost all events and interactions with the university administration. That’s how I became the main operations manager and later the COO of OYGUL.
— Flower shops usually promote themselves on Instagram and Telegram. What makes OYGUL special?
— First, we aggregate many offers from flower shops across Tashkent, so customers can choose the best option for their budget. Second, the marketplace takes care of all operational processes: you simply place an order—there’s no need to remind the seller, check the status, and so on. OYGUL oversees the entire process from the moment the order is placed until the flowers are delivered to the recipient. Third, we focus on quality and service. For example, shops usually don’t send a photo of the bouquet to the customer before delivery, which can lead to misunderstandings. With us, a photo of the bouquet is mandatory.
“We Spent About $8,000 on the Startup in a Year”
— Was the funding for launching OYGUL money earned from a previous startup?
— You could say that. In reality, we didn’t spend much. All the co-founders were finishing university at the time, and people wanted real-world experience—so we built the initial development team with specialists who joined mainly for their portfolios.
The main expenses were marketing. Over a year, we spent about $8,000—not a huge amount for a startup.
Currently, the team consists of five people, including myself. Asilbek and I handle relationships with stores and all operations, while three other team members, including two co-founders, are developers.
— What is your business model?
— In Tashkent, no one will pay just to be listed in a catalog, so we earn a commission on each bouquet sold. The commission depends on the price of the product: for bouquets up to 500,000 soums (about 21,700 tenge), it’s 20%, and the percentage decreases as the price increases. This helped us attract many sellers—more than 45 so far. They include both small shops and large chains. There are competitors, but they usually don’t use a progressive scale—so for expensive bouquets, shops end up paying quite a substantial fee.
— Is the bouquet price the same when ordering through OYGUL and directly from a store?
— Yes. This is explicitly stated in the contracts we sign with stores: the price for the customer must be the same.
— Who handles delivery? Have you partnered with taxi aggregators?
— Launching our own delivery service would be very expensive, so we outsourced delivery. We partnered with a large taxi fleet, and they allocated a group of drivers trained to handle bouquets—picking them up and delivering them carefully without damage. We also use Yandex Delivery if speed is the customer’s priority.
At the same time, we signed an agreement with a delivery service that places special emphasis on service quality. This helps avoid unpleasant situations related to the human factor—for example, when a courier is in a bad mood or in a hurry and rushes the recipient. Presenting a bouquet is just as important a part of the gift as the flowers themselves. That’s why, depending on the customer’s budget and preferences, the delivery service may differ.
Read more on Digitalbusiness.kz.
As part of the joint project by Digital Business and Astana Hub, “100 Startup Stories of Central Asia,” we spoke with Abdumalik about the specifics of the flower business niche, an amusing incident during bouquet delivery, and the $100,000 grant he received for winning a presidential competition.
“The Idea for Our Startup Came Up in London”
— Tell us about yourself: what was your path into the IT industry like?
— I grew up in the Uzbek city of Karshi (Kashkadarya region; population about 270,000), and moved to Tashkent to study at the Presidential University “New Uzbekistan,” majoring in Software Engineering. That’s also where I met Nurislombek Makhkamjonkhojizoda, my future co-founder at OYGUL. Together, we built the first student union—something like a bridge between students and the university administration. We were part of the very first cohort at the university, so there were no such organizations at the time.
At the end of his second year, Nurislombek launched a successful startup—OYTICKET, a cinema ticket aggregator across Tashkent. The project gained a lot of hype because it appeared during the height of “Barbenheimer” (in the summer of 2023, two big-budget films—Barbie and Oppenheimer—were released at the same time; the internet coined the term “Barbenheimer” to joke about the competition between the two—Digital Business note).
When the aggregator started growing rapidly, Nurislombek said he wanted to expand further. At that time, I was working in UX/UI design, and he suggested I join him to develop a new project.
— Did you immediately start working on a flower marketplace?
— Yes. Nurislombek introduced me to two other co-founders—Temur Kasimov and Asilbek Akbarov. The idea of a flower marketplace came from Asilbek: he studies in London and once wanted to order a bouquet for his sister in Tashkent. It turned out to be difficult to negotiate with stores and complete the payment. That’s when Asilbek realized the process could be greatly simplified. That’s how OYGUL started.
At first, I worked on UX/UI. But in a startup like this, after 3–4 months, there’s almost no work left for a designer. So I suggested taking over all operations—negotiating with flower shops. I already had relevant experience: when we were building the student union, I handled almost all events and interactions with the university administration. That’s how I became the main operations manager and later the COO of OYGUL.
— Flower shops usually promote themselves on Instagram and Telegram. What makes OYGUL special?
— First, we aggregate many offers from flower shops across Tashkent, so customers can choose the best option for their budget. Second, the marketplace takes care of all operational processes: you simply place an order—there’s no need to remind the seller, check the status, and so on. OYGUL oversees the entire process from the moment the order is placed until the flowers are delivered to the recipient. Third, we focus on quality and service. For example, shops usually don’t send a photo of the bouquet to the customer before delivery, which can lead to misunderstandings. With us, a photo of the bouquet is mandatory.
“We Spent About $8,000 on the Startup in a Year”
— Was the funding for launching OYGUL money earned from a previous startup?
— You could say that. In reality, we didn’t spend much. All the co-founders were finishing university at the time, and people wanted real-world experience—so we built the initial development team with specialists who joined mainly for their portfolios.
The main expenses were marketing. Over a year, we spent about $8,000—not a huge amount for a startup.
Currently, the team consists of five people, including myself. Asilbek and I handle relationships with stores and all operations, while three other team members, including two co-founders, are developers.
— What is your business model?
— In Tashkent, no one will pay just to be listed in a catalog, so we earn a commission on each bouquet sold. The commission depends on the price of the product: for bouquets up to 500,000 soums (about 21,700 tenge), it’s 20%, and the percentage decreases as the price increases. This helped us attract many sellers—more than 45 so far. They include both small shops and large chains. There are competitors, but they usually don’t use a progressive scale—so for expensive bouquets, shops end up paying quite a substantial fee.
— Is the bouquet price the same when ordering through OYGUL and directly from a store?
— Yes. This is explicitly stated in the contracts we sign with stores: the price for the customer must be the same.
— Who handles delivery? Have you partnered with taxi aggregators?
— Launching our own delivery service would be very expensive, so we outsourced delivery. We partnered with a large taxi fleet, and they allocated a group of drivers trained to handle bouquets—picking them up and delivering them carefully without damage. We also use Yandex Delivery if speed is the customer’s priority.
At the same time, we signed an agreement with a delivery service that places special emphasis on service quality. This helps avoid unpleasant situations related to the human factor—for example, when a courier is in a bad mood or in a hurry and rushes the recipient. Presenting a bouquet is just as important a part of the gift as the flowers themselves. That’s why, depending on the customer’s budget and preferences, the delivery service may differ.
Read more on Digitalbusiness.kz.
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