Central Asian startup ecosystem: weekly insights & news, June 1-7

For investors, founders, and anyone interested in the Central Asian startup scene — here is a quick look at the top news from this week. We have gathered the key updates, from new launches to funding deals and industry moves across the region.

Kazakh startup ARLAN BIOTECH has secured investment from Mercury Software GmbH. ARLAN BIOTECH is developing an AI-powered platform that accelerates the creation of highly precise antibodies. This funding round marks a significant step in scaling and validating the company’s technology.

Kazakhstan is launching crypto-linked payment cards. Transactions will be settled in fiat currency immediately after the crypto wallet balance is accessed on the side of an AIFC-licensed crypto provider. Instant settlements will be enabled through a crypto-to-fiat integration between the bank and the AIFC crypto provider.

Asror Arabjanov, co-founder of Silkroad Innovation Hub, is launching a new AI startup, Clarity Flo, aimed at automating contract workflows. The co-founder is Sardor Taylakov, a ex-Staff Engineer at Navan. The first investment came from the Silkroad Innovation Hub and the Silkroad Angels Club, with support from Asset Abdualiyev.

Kazakh startup CTOgram has completed a full exit of its early shareholders, providing investors with returns ranging from 2.5x to 10x. Moving forward, CTOgram and AUTOBODY will be closely integrated with Freedom, where the leadership is preparing to launch a new initiative — Freedom Auto.

Kazakh startup RE:CREATE AI has raised $150 000 in investment. RE:CREATE AI is a trend and scenario discovery engine for Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, helping experts, entrepreneurs, and small businesses find and recreate the most viral content formats based on reach and engagement data.

Uzbekistan has introduced Imkon Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund with $5 million in capital. The fund will invest in Pre-seed and Seed-stage startups, focusing on FinTech, AI, B2B SaaS, and DeepTech, with a particular interest in projects with cross-border growth potential.

Kazakhstan is launching Central Asia’s first commercial sovereign AI factory. The facility will enable the processing of vast datasets and the training of complex AI models applicable across finance, aviation, mining, oil and gas, and construction sectors.

Kazakhstan is set to host an NVIDIA-powered supercomputer. As part of a collaboration with Kazakhtelecom, NVIDIA has agreed to supply H200 chips delivering 56.4 petaflops of computing power. This represents a major computational milestone, and NVIDIA has even referenced Kazakhstan’s AI cluster in its official communications.