IT Park and IT Park Ventures at the Central Eurasia Venture Summit 2025: Uzbekistan as a Regional Hub for Venture Integration
Representatives of IT Park and IT Park Ventures of Uzbekistan participated in the Central Eurasia Venture Summit 2025, held in Tbilisi and Kakheti, Georgia. The summit brought together over 100 representatives from venture capital firms, accelerators, startups, universities, and government institutions from more than 10 countries across the region and beyond.
Organized by Future Laboratory and Startup Central Eurasia, with the support of IT Park Uzbekistan and IT Park Ventures, the event marked a continuation of Uzbekistan’s consistent efforts toward institutionalizing its venture ecosystem and building a cross-border innovation infrastructure.
Uzbekistan: A Platform for Growth and Integration
Delivering the opening remarks, Zaynab Atabaeva, representative of IT Park Ventures, emphasized Uzbekistan’s role as an emerging next-generation platform for venture capital, technology transfer, and regional collaboration. She presented the fund’s strategic focus, noting that in the first quarter of 2025, IT Park Ventures had already funded three startups with a combined investment of $650,000. The fund supports:
- Startups originating from Central Eurasia;
- Diaspora teams;
- Founders of Uzbek origin;
- Local startups targeting international markets.
New Initiatives: Angel School and Collaboration with UC Berkeley
One of the summit’s major outcomes was the agreement to launch the Central Eurasia Angel School — a joint initiative of IT Park, IT Park Ventures, AXEL, and Future Laboratory. The curriculum will cover startup valuation, deal structuring, portfolio management, and accelerator engagement. The inaugural cohort is scheduled to commence in Uzbekistan in the second half of 2025.
On the second day of the summit, Shokhrukh Narimanov (IT Park) and Zaynab Atabaeva (IT Park Ventures) participated in a roundtable discussion focused on regional collaboration, co-investment mechanisms and the launch of an educational program in cooperation with UC Berkeley (USA) professors, alumni, and students, in partnership with Future Laboratory. This initiative is designed to prepare Central Eurasian startups for entry into the U.S. market through investment readiness training, go-to-market strategies, and connections with global accelerators and funds.
Regional Engagement and Startup Pipeline
Throughout the summit, the IT Park delegation conducted over 30 meetings with promising startups in AI, AgriTech, EdTech, and Fintech. Notable attention was given to PromptLab, a startup founded by Uzbek diaspora entrepreneur Norm Abdurasulov, which is currently in talks with several investors and planning expansion into Georgia, Kazakhstan, and the U.S.
As part of the presentation, Uzbekistan was highlighted as a strategic platform for scaling operations — with over 15 international startups having already selected the country for their expansion. Since 2023, IT Park programs have facilitated more than $134.4 million in investments into regional projects.
Key Agreements
- Launch of the Central Eurasia Angel School
- Exchange of startup pipelines and joint acceleration programs
- Formation of investment syndicates and LP groups
- Development of standardized deal assessment frameworks and playbooks
- Launch of a U.S. market entry program in collaboration with Future Laboratory and UC Berkeley
- Establishment of working groups focused on regulatory policy, taxation, and venture legislation
The Central Eurasia Venture Summit 2025 reaffirmed Uzbekistan’s role not only as an active participant, but also as one of the principal architects of the region’s venture capital landscape. Through the strategic initiatives of IT Park and IT Park Ventures, a robust ecosystem is taking shape — one that connects local talent with global capital and international partnerships, from Silicon Valley to Kakheti.