Qazaqstan Investment Corporation invested in venture fund Sturgeon Emerging Opportunities II LP

         Qazaqstan Investment Corporation invested in venture fund Sturgeon Emerging Opportunities II LP.

         The anchor investors of the fund are international financial organizations International Finance Corporation (USA) and SBI Holdings (Japan).     

         QIC is expected to invest three million US dollars in the fund. The funds will be directed to the IT sector for various early stage projects in Kazakhstan, Central Asian countries, Azerbaijan, Georgia, as well as Pakistan and Bangladesh.

         It should be noted that the fund is managed by Sturgeon Capital (UK), which aims to support technology startups mainly from Central Asian countries.

         Sturgeon Capital is interested in projects offering innovative technological products or services aimed at solving industry problems that are equally relevant to markets in different countries.

         Didar Karimsakov, the Chairman of the Management Board of Qazaqstan Investment Corporation JSC: "One of the main priorities of QIC is the development of venture investments. Global experience of recent years shows that a lot of modern large and successful companies began their journey with a startup. I believe that cooperation with Sturgeon Capital will give an additional impetus to the development of the venture market in the region and will help promising Kazakhstani startups in growth and scaling."

         Robin Butler, Partner, Sturgeon Capital: “Kazakhstan is a core market for Sturgeon and our partnership with QIC will be a catalyst for SEO II to invest more in exceptional Kazakh founders. The fund has already invested in two Kazakh startups, Farel and Surfaice Pro, and we are excited by the quality of deal flow we are seeing in the country. The success of Kaspi and Solva has demonstrated the calibre of founders in Kazakhstan, and we believe these are still the early days of the Kazakh startup opportunity.”

For reference:

Qazaqstan Investment Corporation JSC is a fund of private equity and venture capital funds, established in 2007. Its main mission is to develop private equity and venture capital financing in Kazakhstan in order to promote sustainable economic development of the country. It is a subsidiary organization of Baiterek NMH JSC. Additional information can be found at https://qic.kz/ru.

Sturgeon Capital is a London-headquartered firm investing in teams building transformational businesses in Emerging Markets. With an on-the-ground presence in Central Asia, South Asia and the Caucasus, Sturgeon provides capital and network to bridge the gap between talent and opportunity in underserved markets. The firm manages $300m in AUM on behalf of global institutional investors, including the IFC, SBI Holdings, Chevron and the Qazaq Investment Corporation, across venture capital and private equity strategies.

Sturgeon Capital Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.