Uzbekistan

Tashkent

Members: IT-Park Uzbekistan

Top 20

Asia Ecosystem in Affordable Talent

Top 40

Asia Ecosystem in Funding Momentum

Top 40

Asia Ecosystem in Performance
Uzbekistan is emerging as a vibrant ‘Land of Startups,’ where global talent meets untapped opportunity. We’ve built a boundary-less ecosystem designed to accelerate bold ideas from Central Asia to the world stage.
Sherzod Shermatov
Sherzod Shermatov
Minister of Digital Technologies.

Highlights

Tashkent is claiming its place as Central Asia's definitive startup capital — backed by strong government commitment, a rapidly maturing ecosystem, and an innovation infrastructure that draws serious global attention.

The anchor of this growth is IT Park Uzbekistan — a government-backed national hub supporting 3,500+ member companies exporting to 90+ countries, with a global office network and a $30M venture fund focused on AI/ML, Fintech, EdTech, GreenTech, and Game Development. The broader ecosystem now counts 1,000+ startups and 22 venture funds with $200M+ in combined capital. In 2025, Uzbek startups raised $308M+ — up 344% year-on-year — bringing total Ecosystem Value to $4.3B by Q1 2026. Uzum, a Tashkent-born Fintech launched in 2022, epitomizes this rise: valued at $2.3B by early 2026, it is Central Asia's only VC-backed unicorn.

Government policy has been deliberate and layered. IT Park residents enjoy zero corporate income tax, no VAT, and no customs duties through 2040. The Digital Startups Program ($50M) offers co-investment matching, accelerator reimbursements, and a regulatory sandbox. 

Enterprise Uzbekistan, established by presidential decree in 2025, adds a special legal regime and independent commercial court designed for global tech firms. On the competition side, the President Tech Award ($5M) has collected 13,000+ applicants and helped winners raise over $10M. A separate AI track – the President AI Award ($1M), and the newly-launched Land of Startups — are an open global competition with a $5M prize fund.

Internationally, Tashkent is becoming a hub. Plug and Play's largest CIS office has operated here for three consecutive years. DOMiNO Ventures opened Central Asia's first international private VC office in 2025. 

Through the Central Eurasian Innovation Hubs alliance, 100+ regional startups reached nine major global events, with Uzbek startups attracting $100M+  through the platform. In 2025, 30+ Uzbek startups completed international acceleration programs — a 930% jump from 2024 — and over 100 now operate abroad.

Ecosystem by the Numbers

ECOSYSTEM VALUE

A measure of economic impact, calculated as the value of exits and startup valuations from H2 2023–2025. Ecosystem Value includes all active unicorns.
(H2 2023 - 2025)
$2 BN
GLOBAL AVG. $25 BN
REGIONAL AVG. $24 BN

ECOSYSTEM VALUE GROWTH

Growth is calculated based on the Ecosystem Value from H2 2018–2020 vs. H2 2023–2025.
(H2 2018 - 2020 VS. H2 2023 - 2025)
494%
GLOBAL GROWTH 149%
REGIONAL GROWTH 66%

AI-Native Ecosystem Value

A measure of economic impact, calculated as the value of exits and startup valuations from H2 2023–2025 for AI-Native. Ecosystem Value includes all active unicorns.
(H2 2023 - 2025)
$10 M
GLOBAL AVG. $4.4 BN
REGIONAL AVG. $2.6 BN

AI-Native Ecosystem Value Growth

Growth is calculated based on the AI-Native Ecosystem Value from H2 2021–2023 vs. H2 2023–2025.
(H2 2021 - 23 VS. H2 2023 - 25)
NA
GLOBAL GROWTH 161%
REGIONAL GROWTH 58%

EARLY-STAGE FUNDING GROWTH

Early-Stage Funding Growth is based on number of Seed and Series A rounds raised between 2022-2023 vs. 2024-2025 and calculated on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest).
(2022-23 vs. 2024-25)
10
Scale of 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest)

AI-Native Early Stage Funding Growth

AI-Native Early-Stage Funding (ESF) Count Growth Tier evaluates the growth in the number of Early-Stage Funding rounds between 2022–23 and 2024–25. Ecosystems are scored on a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 represents the lowest growth and 10 represents the highest.
(2022-23 vs. 2024-25)
NA
Scale of 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest)

TOTAL VC FUNDING

The Total VC funding (Seed, Series A, Series B+) in tech startups in 2021–2025.
(2021 - 2025)
$412 M
GLOBAL AVG. $5 BN
REGIONAL AVG. $5 BN

TOTAL EARLY–STAGE FUNDING

The total Seed and Series A funding in tech startups in H2 2023–2025.
(H2 2023 - 2025)
$124 M
GLOBAL AVG. $554 M
REGIONAL AVG. $490 M

EXIT AMOUNT

The total value of exits from the ecosystem.
(2021 - 2025)
$90 M
GLOBAL AVG. $7.6 BN
REGIONAL AVG. $11.9 BN

EXIT COUNT (#)

The number of exits from the ecosystem.
(2021 - 2025)
9
0
2021
1
2022
1
2023
1
2024
6
2025
GLOBAL AVG. 103
REGIONAL AVG. 55

TIME TO EXIT

The average age at the time of exit in the ecosystem in 2021–2025.
(2021 - 2025)
6.3 YEARS
GLOBAL AVG. 11.1 years
REGIONAL AVG. 10.2 YEARS

NUMBER OF UNICORNS 

The number of startups that meet our definition and have been valued at more than $1 billion and have not exited.
(ACTIVE UNICORNS)
1
GLOBAL AVG. 11
REGIONAL AVG. 10

MEDIAN SEED ROUND

The median of seed rounds in tech startups in the ecosystem in H2 2023–2025.
(H2 2023 - 2025)
$75 K
GLOBAL AVG. $1 M
REGIONAL AVG. $1 M

Median Series A Round

The median of Series A rounds in tech startups in the ecosystem in H2 2023–2025.
(H2 2023 – 2025)
$5 M
GLOBAL AVG. $6.2 M
REGIONAL AVG. $4.1 M

Top Funded Startups

Top startups identified based on funding amount from July 2023 to December 2025.
(H2 2023-2025)
1: Uzum
2: ZoodPay
3: BirBir
4: Arzon Apteka
5: Alif

SOFT. ENGINEER SALARY

Average software engineer salary informed by data from Glassdoor, Salary.com, and PayScale, as well as local sources when available.
(2025)
$21 K
GLOBAL AVG. $54 K
REGIONAL AVG. $27 K

Sub-Sector Strengths

Fintech & E-Commerce
Fintech & E-Commerce

Fintech and E-Commerce represent Tashkent's largest concentration of funded startups. Uzbekistan's E-Commerce Strategy for 2023–2027 and the Digital Uzbekistan 2030 initiative are designed to simplify VAT, incentivize digital payments, and ease compliance for small businesses, with KPMG forecasting the E-Commerce market will reach $2.2B by 2027. Uzbekistan's digital payments market is projected to grow 31% between 2025 and 2029, reaching a total volume of $28.76 billion by 2029. Fintech unicorn Uzum’s $95M equity round in 2025 ranked among the largest Fintech deals in Asia that year. Uzbek E-Commerce newcomer BirBir attracted $10M in 2025.

Artificial Intelligence & Logistics
Artificial Intelligence & Logistics

Artificial Intelligence has emerged as Tashkent's most ambitious frontier. Uzbekistan's National AI Strategy targets $1.5B in AI-based services revenue and a top-50 ranking in the Government AI Readiness Index by 2030. A $5B partnership with Saudi Arabia's DataVolt will deliver up to 500 MW of green data centers, while a national supercomputer cluster is being built with Nvidia. Early traction is already visible: Datatruck, Tass Vision, Corun.ai, and Humanola have collectively raised over $17M from international investors.

Edtech
Edtech

EdTech is one of Tashkent's most supported sectors. Through a national partnership with Coursera, Uzbekistan's Ministry of Digital Technologies deployed digital education across more than 10,000 schools, resulting in 1.5 million+ registrations and nearly one million course completions — with women representing half of all participants. The One Million Uzbek Coders initiative, regional IT centers, IT Park University, and School 21 have collectively helped grow the country's IT workforce from 62,000 in 2019 to over 200,000 in 2025, making Tashkent a compelling launchpad for EdTech founders.

Selected Startup Organizations

Startup Genome Members

MEMBER
IT Park Uzbekistan

IT Park Uzbekistan is a government-backed national innovation hub established in 2019 under the Ministry of Digital Technologies, designed to make Uzbekistan a global IT hub by supporting startups, IT companies, and digital service exporters through tax incentives, infrastructure, mentorship, and export programs. It hosts over 3,500 member companies and functions as the ecosystem's central orchestrator — running acceleration programs and operating international offices to connect local founders with global markets and capital. By 2030, IT Park targets $5 billion in IT service exports, 10,000 resident companies, and 300,000 new jobs.

Work with us

If you are interested in working with us to drive global attention to your ecosystem, please get in touch with Marina Krizman, Director of Business Development.

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