Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan Forge Single Digital Market to Boost Tech Innovation

Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are forging a single digital market, uniting their tech ecosystems to streamline cross-border operations for startups and established companies. This collaboration facilitates faster data exchange, creates shared venture funds, and launches joint acceleration programs. Startups can now access funding, establish offices, and utilize public services across both nations with fewer barriers. The partnership positions Central Asia as an emerging hub for tech innovation and creates a launchpad for global expansion, particularly into Southeast Asia, while fostering job creation and talent development.

How are Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan integrating their digital markets?

Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are creating a unified digital market by integrating their national tech hubs, establishing joint venture funds, and aligning data protocols. This strategy provides startups with seamless cross-border funding, simplified legal processes, and access to unified public services, forming Central Asia's most advanced tech ecosystem and accelerating regional innovation and investment.

Since January 2025, Astana and Tashkent have moved beyond diplomatic agreements to practical implementation. A new network of joint hubs, venture funds, harmonized data protocols, and accelerator programs is uniting the two nations into the most integrated tech bloc in Central Asia's history.

From pilot cables to full stacks

The integration hinges on harmonizing legal frameworks and data protocols, allowing certified cloud services in one country to operate as domestic nodes in the other. This strategy removes data localization barriers and streamlines cross-border digital operations for businesses and government services, creating a unified regulatory environment.

• March 2026: A UN-supported pilot successfully transferred encrypted business records between Uzbekistan's IT Park and Kazakhstan's e-Gov portal in under 1.3 seconds, demonstrating that cross-border data speeds can surpass domestic ones.
• April 17, 2026: IT Park Ventures and White Hill Capital signed a USD 2 million joint venture agreement. Investment tickets will range from USD 10,000 SAFE notes for idea-stage founders to USD 50,000 for post-revenue startups expanding across both countries.

An intergovernmental protocol, pending ratification, will recognize each nation's certified cloud as a "domestic node," eliminating redundant data localization requirements.

Two hubs, one corridor

Hub	2025-2026 Metrics	Flagship Programs
IT Park Uzbekistan	2,800 residents, 730 foreign firms, USD 17.6M in service exports	Zero Risk Program (12 months free office & payroll), Digital Uzbekistan 2030
Astana Hub	67 Uzbek companies, 750 jobs created, USD 17.6M injected into Uzbek projects	Kazakhstan Market Entry (10 Uzbek teams), Digital Startup Awards (USD 1M prize pool)

Forty alumni from the joint Central Asian Innovation Hubs accelerator have secured placements at Draper University, AlchemistX, GITEX Germany, and London Tech Week.

Volumes and valuations

Central Asian venture capital funding reached USD 320 million in 2025, marking a 31% increase when excluding two mega-rounds. Kazakh funds contributed USD 209 million, nearly half of which targeted AI ventures. Uzbekistan's funding alone skyrocketed by 522% year-over-year to USD 329 million.

"We are now witnessing not just growth, but a systemic rethinking of Uzbekistan's role in the global digital economy."
Sherzod Shermatov, Minister of Digital Technologies

Startups already crossing borders

• OSON: The Uzbek fintech firm opened an Almaty office in 2023 and now processes 18% of its regional volume through Kazakh partner banks.
• BILLZ: This QR-payment app secured partnerships with EasyTap and ioka after negotiations at Smart Point Almaty.
• Sales Doctor: The pharmacy CRM piloted its software in 120 Kazakh branches before expanding to 600 drugstores in Uzbekistan.

Over 20 Uzbek companies now have a presence in Astana Hub, while the reverse flow has brought Kazakh e-commerce firms like Kwaaka to Tashkent's IT Park.

Funding stack

Layer	Instrument	Ticket	Focus
Pre-seed	SAFE incubation grant	up to USD 10,000	MVP, regulatory matchmaking
Seed	Cross-border acceleration	up to USD 50,000	Market entry, bilingual pilots
Series A	Joint venture fund	USD 100k - 500k	Regional scale, data residency
Growth	Government co-financing	USD 500k - 2M	IPO path on Astana International Exchange

Data highway blueprint

Engineers are developing a unified public services platform that will allow individuals and businesses to use a single QR login for tasks like filing taxes, registering vehicles, or applying for work permits in either country. The next stress test in Q3 2026 will involve real-time synchronization of customs declarations at the Gisht Kuprik and Karakalpakiya border points.

Talent pipelines

• IT Visa: Uzbekistan's three-year multiple-entry permit attracted 1,200 Kazakh engineers to Tashkent in 2025.
• Twinning PhDs: Nazarbayev University and Tashkent University of Information Technologies are co-supervising 35 joint AI research projects.

Eyes on Southeast Asia

On September 1, 2026, Astana Hub, IT Park Uzbekistan, and Big Sky Capital will launch a Malaysia landing pad in Kuala Lumpur. This initiative will give Central Asian B2B startups priority access to Singaporean pilot customers and Sharia-compliant venture debt.

Week of action

Global Tech Weekend, the region's premier decentralized tech gathering, is scheduled for May 15-17, 2026, in Tashkent. The event will feature live coding competitions, a cross-border fintech hackathon, and the inaugural joint Demo Day for the Uzbek-Kazakh startup cohort.

What to watch next

• Q3 2026: A unified e-invoice protocol will go live, eliminating duplicate VAT filings for suppliers in both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
• Q4 2026: The joint venture fund is expected to announce its first Series A follow-on investment, likely in an AI-driven agritech company.