Uzbekistan: new mechanisms for supporting the startup ecosystem with the participation of venture investors

The Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan hosted a meeting dedicated to the development of the startup ecosystem and expansion of international investment cooperation. Timur Khusanov, Director of the State Policy Analysis, Support and Coordination Department, and Dilshod Hashimov, General Director of the UzVC National Venture Fund, took part in the discussion. The main focus was on developing joint solutions in the field of financing high-tech startups.

A key participant in the negotiations was an international venture capital company operating in a number of countries in Central Asia, Europe and Turkey. Over the past five years, the region has seen a significant increase in activity in the technology entrepreneurship market: the number of startups has more than quadrupled, reaching 4,500 projects, and the total volume of venture capital transactions amounted to $ 120 million in 2024.

During the meeting, the BetterFuture AI Acceleration initiative was presented — a specialized program to support startups developing solutions in the field of artificial intelligence. Current investment cases in Uzbekistan were also of particular interest, including TASS-Vision, an AI-based video analytics company, PointAi, an e-commerce startup, and Datatruck, a logistics platform.

The investor expressed his intention to send up to $ 50 million to the region over the next five years. At the same time, it is planned to finance more than 20 new startups with a total estimated cost of about $ 100 million. This creates additional incentives for strengthening innovative entrepreneurship in the country and attracting external capital.

Following the talks, the parties reached an agreement on the implementation of joint investment and acceleration programs with the participation of DOMiNO Ventures and the UzVC National Venture Fund. Special emphasis was placed on the exchange of professional expertise, technology transfer, and building a sustainable ecosystem for scaling startups both locally and globally.

The parties also confirmed their mutual interest in creating a favorable environment for early venture investment, where public and private institutions act as partners, and not as parallel players. This corresponds to the strategic objectives of Uzbekistan to form a modern innovative economy and digital transformation of key industries.