Startup Central Eurasia Venture Summit

On April 25-26, the Startup Central Eurasia Venture Summit was held in Tbilisi (Georgia), dedicated to the overview of the global venture market and the development of the startup ecosystem in the Central Asian region. The Summit was attended by investors and experts from Central Asia, Turkey, the UAE, the Czech Republic, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and the UK. The Summit participants discussed upcoming trends, challenges and opportunities for the development of the venture market, as well as prospects for further cooperation. As part of one of the key panel sessions - "Financial Institutions, Family Offices, Fund of Funds as investors (LPs) for the new VC Funds", the Managing Director of Qazaqstan Investment Corporation, Moldir Zhakanova, acted as a speaker. During the open discussion, the speakers shared their opinions on the necessary tools that can become a catalyst for unlocking the potential of the venture infrastructure of the Central Asian region, measures to improve the legislative framework, and also talked about the activities of local venture funds. "In 2020, QIC expanded its investment mandate by participating in the segments of stressful assets, venture financing and infrastructure projects through private equity instruments. Acting as a driver of the process of forming the private equity infrastructure in the Central Asian region, one of the main tasks for us is to create a favorable investment environment, both in Kazakhstan and throughout the region. Our contribution to the development of the venture ecosystem will be through the creation of financial and non-financial support tools, along with the involvement of strategic international partners who will help with the entry of Kazakhstani companies into the foreign market. Today, QIC is considering the possibility of participating in two venture funds, which geographical mandate will be directed to projects in the Central Asian region. At the same time, taking into account the significant results of the Kazakhstan Digital Accelerator acceleration program conducted jointly with the Quest Ventures Singapore venture fund, we intend to continue developing the competencies of startup projects and venture investors. To this end, in December 2022, a subsidiary of QIC – BGlobal Ventures was registered on the territory of the Astana International Financial Center. The activities of BGlobal Ventures will be aimed at implementing acceleration and educational programs and scaling startups in the global arena. It is worth noting that the QIC programs are available to entrepreneurs, business angels and venture investors from all countries of the Central Asian region," said Moldir Zhakanova in her speech.