Central Asian Startup Ecosystem: Weekly Insights & News, June 23–29

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.

A Digital Technology Center of Uzbekistan has officially opened in Shanghai. One of the center’s key goals is to attract Chinese IT companies and international grants to Uzbekistan, while also expanding the export of local digital services and IT products.

Huawei has opened its first official branch in Fergana, marking the company’s second location in Uzbekistan after Tashkent. During the opening event, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Fergana regional administration and Huawei Tech Investment Tashkent LLC.

Tajikistan has launched Central Asia’s first H200 GPU chip cluster. The project completed all necessary steps for deployment, including a U.S. government export license, partnerships with NVIDIA and Supermicro, and a fully operational logistics chain.Telegram has officially become a member of Astana Hub. Joining the Astana Hub ecosystem opens new opportunities for collaborative projects, knowledge exchange, and the development of digital products both in Kazakhstan and on global markets.

BILLZ has announced a strategic partnership with TBC Bank Group. As a result of this partnership with TBC Uzbekistan, the group’s digital banking ecosystem in Central Asia, the BILLZ platform will be integrated into TBC Uzbekistan’s infrastructure.

A case study on Freedom Holding Corp. has been included in the MBA program at Stanford Graduate School of Business. The case details the company’s day-to-day reality: its NASDAQ listing, launch of IT products, internal transformation, and ecosystem development.