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Silkway Accelerator

Silkway Accelerator by the Google for Startups and Astana Hub is not just about leveling up your startup with the best experts and mentors, it is a program where we will help You convert your expended resource into results. 

This program will be held offline in Astana, Kazakhstan, for startups at Product Market fit and Scale stages from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Mongolia and Georgia.

 

Application is closed

 

About the program

Successful entry into global markets requires experience, partnerships, and best practices, which is exactly what we offer in our Silkway Accelerator program, developed in partnership with Google for Startups.

The program is thoroughly designed for startups at PMF (product market fit) and Scale (projects at scale and export stage). Program participants will be assisted in creating effective business processes, scaling, meeting like-minded people, and preparing for investments.

 

 

 

 

Program includes:

 

TRACKING

Each project is assigned an individual tracker - a specialist who helps the teams: implement management methods, track the dynamics of business performance, facilitate meetings with partner companies, etc.

 

INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS

Mentorship and one-on-one consultations are available every day from Google for Startups and Astana Hub experts in various areas such as marketing, finance, business model development, pitching, etc.

 

GROUP MEETINGS

Board meetings, sales meetings, and masterminds will be held for the exchange of results, experience, cross-selling, cooperation, formation of horizontal ties between participants, etc.

 

WORKSHOPS

Online and offline workshops from Google for Startups and Astana Hub, as well as guest lectures with investors, expert founders of IT companies, etc.

 

Program Benefits:

 Accommodation 

Accommodation for 2 team members is free for 3 months, within walking distance of the Astana Hub.

 Coworking

Free workspaces at the Astana Hub along with many other IT startups/companies.

Tax Preferences

All Astana Hub members get the tax benefits

PR support

Interesting and successful startup cases will have the opportunity to be featured in interviews, live broadcasts, to be published on the official Google for Startups and Astana Hub page, as well as on social networks.

Networking

Great networking opportunities at the Astana Innovation Cluster Center 

Demo day

Accelerator-eligible projects will have access to a circle of investors and business angels

 

Take your startup to the next level with Google for Startups!

Application is closed

Startup Spotlight – TOP Achievers Results

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zypl.ai

Tajikistan

Expanded sales to 2 new markets: Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Tripled MRR and reached break-even. Investor valuation of zypl.ai at pre-seed increased from $6 million to $10 million as a result of progress in the accelerator. Raised $1.1 million from 12 global venture and angel investors.

Citix

Kazakhstan

Increased the company's valuation from $30 million to $40 million and entered the markets of Turkey and the UAE.

UvU

Kazakhstan

Increased its key indicators by 3-5 times, including turnover, revenue and number of orders, and changed its business model and focused on a broader niche.

EasyTap

Kazakhstan

MRR doubled by the end of accelerator from $20k to $40k despite the fact that core team decreased from 19 to 9 members . Moreover, the number of users grew from 5500 to 10000 with 0 marketing investments. 


Sxodim.com

Kazakhstan

During 8 months of this year company earned $350K, while at accelerator in 3 months were able to reach $300K.  Regarding the  media stream, sales increased from $65K to $90K of stable income.

Fibo cloud

Mongolia

Increased their MRR by 22 times during the accelerator, signed a contract with the government of Mongolia for cloud services, and successfully signed an agreement with a major telecommunications company in Kazakhstan.

Feedback from participants of the Silkway Accelerator

Azizjon Azimi
СЕО оf zypl.ai

"It was a trio of two's, 2 contracts in 2 markets. Together, what happened is that we have 2 new partners who are going to issue more than $ 30 million in microloans and car loans using our credit scoring software, which happened within the accelerator."

Syrga Tilekova
СЕО оf NB FIT

"I didn't expect such a level of mentors and trackers, because in 2 weeks I realized that we are surrounded by some of the most ambitious and some of the most promising startups, well, trackers and mentors. I think it will be even more interesting next. The rest of the weeks will be even hotter and at the end of this acceleration we will be a completely adult startup."

Madiyar Toleugali
СЕО оf UvU Ridesharing

"Yes, we actually went through a lot of acceleration programs, but this one is different in that here you are constantly under very severe stress, and all startups, despite their even high level there, are under this stress, and this kick, it helps a lot, so the expectations - they were met, the quality speakers are also very cool, invited guests. That's why we're happy so far."

Bazar Purevjav
СЕО оf Fibo cloud

"We had a little history back home. And then we ended up at Silkway Accelerator, in the hands of Alisher Khasanov and the wonderful program team. The Silkway Accelerator made us think differently and changed our mentality. Now there is a focus on big results and there are no territorial limits, whether it is Mongolia or another country.."

Alisher Toiguliyev
СЕО оf Sxodim.com

"Before joining the program, we thought that what needs to be ramped up would, of course, be our company. We were surprised that our thinking turned out to be the center of all the attention. Main tracker positively influenced us by changing our mindset, and we influenced our products in the same positive way. Thanks to the change in our thinking and outlook on the world and our products, now we will get the result of acceleration throughout life."

Iskandar Kurbonov
СЕО оf Avlo

“When it comes to the main tracker, from my point of view, the unambiguous feedback that you receive from him is all that you need for a startup. He possesses the right language of communication, the unique and non-trivial method of tracking startups. The CEO's job is as difficult as it is important. If you call yourself CEO then you should have a distinctive mindset that propels yourself, your team, and company to the top of your industry’s leader board.”

Gunay Imanzade
СЕО оf Metatesk

“Being a part of this program was a great pleasure and an incredible experience. I recommend this gas pedal to everyone, there is a unique opportunity to dive in and work on a lot of different topics, from product development to management. In addition to increasing sales in China, we are looking to expand into the U.S. and Africa,"

Turmunkh Oldokh
СЕО оf Metaver

“What I clearly understood in the Silkway Accelerator is that going international is different for every business. Start with a small story. Make it a success in your city, your country. Practice the business model. Make sure you don't run out of money halfway through when you're just starting to get somewhere. If you don't calculate, you can lose money in the existing market and fail in the new market”

The world is moving fast. We help you move faster.

.

Application is closed

Partner resources for startups

Get free access to the resources of Astana Hub partners

AWS Activate

The AWS Activate program provides startup founders with a variety of business development benefits, including AWS loans from $5,000 up to 12 months

Yandex Could Boost

Program to support resident companies Astana Hub, which gives the opportunity to get a grant of up to 2,400,000 tenge for 6 months to use the cloud platform Yandex Cloud

Github

 Eligible startups get access to GitHub Enterprise for free for one year and a 50% discount for the second year.

GOhost.kz

Each member receives free six-months access to hosting and Cloud VPS service.

Alibaba Cloud

Each participant will have access to different discounts and free modules on cloud services, mPaaS, Alibaba Cloud Academy , ZStack

Digital Ocean Hatch

Become a part of Hatch and get up to $1,000 in credits on DigitalOcean's cloud platform for 12 months.

Vonage

For Astana Hub members, the platform offers: Training, where startups can access Vonage technical resources and curated content to learn how to use the API. Also, provide development support, where startups can use products for free as part of the package provided (up to 2,500 euros) and specialized technical consulting sessions to create MVPs.

Selzy

For Astana Hub members, the Selzy platform offers 
free newsletters: promo codes for 2000, 5000 and 10000 emails; technical support for personal account 24/7, marketing support, audit of email-campaigns;

Notion

As part of the partnership, startups will be able to get a free $1,000 credit that will give them access to the Net New Plus plan at Notion for a year.

Selection Process

  • February 17

    Application deadline

     

    Applications are accepted February 14th, 23:59 (+6 GMT, Astana time)

     

  • February 19

    Initial Screening

     

    Initial screening of applications will be done without your participation, early-stage startups won't proceed further

     

     

  • February 23

    Technical Interview

     

    Comprehensive interview of your project with field experts

  • February 25

    Comission Selection

     

    Top 60 companies will be evaluated by comission

  • March 1

    Traction Meeting0

     

    Last stage of the selection is interview with main trackers of the program (behavioral interview)

  • March 2

    Results Announcement

     

    Final list of program participants will be announced on February 27 in all social media accounts

  • mid March 

    Program start

     

    The program officially launches on March 11

Working with you to unleash your potential.

.

Application is closed

Selection Criteria:

01

For startups 

at PMF (product market fit) and Scale (projects at the scale and export stage) stages with mandatory participation of the company CEO, who makes decisions in it (offline participation).

02

IT-Component

A startup must include an IT component in its structure

03

Electronic Digital Signature(EDS)

All participants must have an electronic digital signature (EDS) to take part in the program. In case you don't have one, you will be able to make it during the program.

*Information for foreign applicants regarding visas and electronic digital signatures is provided below

 

04

Offline Format

Need to be physically present at events in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, for the entire period of the program (3 months)

*Information for foreign applicants regarding visas and electronic digital signatures is provided below

 

05

Language of the program

Fluency in English and Russian is required to master the material provided

06

Only for Central Asian and neighboring countries

The program is designed for startup founders whose citizenship belongs to the following countries: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, and Georgia. 

Countdown to submission deadline:

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Program Agenda

  • Week 0

    Welcome Day

    Preparatory Work:

    1) Settlement in apartments of non-resident participants 

    2) Registration of IIN, temporary residence permit, visa in KZ

    3) Registration of arrival in Kazakhstan 

  • Week 1 to 3 

    Tracking Program 

    Individual Traction Meetings 

    Group Traction Meetings

    Workshops 

  • Week 4 to 11

    Tracking Program 

    Individual Traction Meetings 

    Indiividual consultations with Tracker

    Group Traction Meetings

    Workshops 

  • Week 12

    Tracking Program 

    Individual Traction Meetings 

    Indiividual consultations with Tracker

    Group Traction Meetings

    Workshops 

    Demo Day with the participation of investors and certificate awarding ceremony 

  • Week 12

    Tracking Program 

    Individual Traction Meetings 

    Indiividual consultations with Tracker

    Group Traction Meetings

    Workshops 

    Demo Day with the participation of investors and certificate awarding ceremony 

  • Week 12

    Tracking Program 

    Individual Traction Meetings 

    Indiividual consultations with Tracker

    Group Traction Meetings

    Workshops 

    Demo Day with the participation of investors and certificate awarding ceremony 

Information for foreign applicants (outside of Kazakhstan):

Uzbekistan

Kyrgyzstan

Tajikistan

Turkmenistan

Azerbaijan

Mongolia

Georgia

Uzbekistan 

— No Visa needed - up to 30 days

— Companies from Uzbekistan can apply for a temporary residence permit to stay for up to 1 or 2 years after receiving the IIN(Individual Identification Number) and EDS(electronic digital signature)

— The basis for obtaining a temporary residence permit is a signed Agreement for participation in Silkway Accelerator.

— More detailed information about obtaining an individual identification number and an electronic digital signature can be found here

 

 

 

 

See what the press saying as featured in:

  • Forbes Kazakhstan (in Russian):

    see

  • Digital Business (in Russian):

    see

     

  • Astana Times (in English):

    see



     

  • Title Press (in English):

    see



     

  • Toppress (in Russian): 

    see



     

  • Digital Business (in Russian):

    see

     



     

 

Don't miss the opportunity to boost your startup!

Application is closed

FAQ

  • How long will the program last?

    The program will last for 3 months, including the Demo Day.

  • What is the cost of participating in the program?

    The program is fully free of charge for the participants.

  • Does the company's CEO have to be physically in Astana to participate in the program?

    Yes, the physical presence of the CEO of the company in Astana is mandatory for participation during the three months of the program.

  • Is it mandatory for the CEO of the company to participate in Saturday traction meetings?

    Yes, the participation of the CEO of the company at Saturday traction meetings is mandatory, without exceptions.

  • Can I bring my team members/employees to Astana to participate in the program?

    Yes, however we will assist in accommodating the company of up to 2 people.

  • Our group has two ideas. Can we submit two applications?

    We don‘t recommend it. You should pick your favorite idea and apply with that one.

  • As a CEO of my company, can I send someone else in my stead to participate in the program?

    No, the participation of the CEO on the program is obligatory.

  • What is the language of the program?

    The program will be held in a bilingual format both in English and Russian languages.

  • I am a founder of a startup/company and my citizenship is from outside of the Central Asian region. Can I apply?

    We only accept CEOs whose citizenship is from either Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, and Georgia.

  • Will there be accomodation offered in the city of Astana?

    Yes, for those participants that are in need of accomodation we will be able to provide solutions in Astana.

  • How do I determine if my startup/company is at PMF, Scale or higher stage?

    There are no clear guidelines on what is considered as the PMF or Scale stage of the startup. Our definition is that PMF - working channel of sales, clear of understanding of growth, good unit economy.

    Scale - putting funds into the channel of sales.

  • How long will the program last?

    The program will last for 3 months, including the Demo Day.

 

Contact with us:

 

programs@astanahub.com 2222, +7 7172 73 50 89
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