The representatives of leading venture funds, associations and investors from Kazakhstan, Central Asian countries and Russia discussed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the venture capital market and prospects for its further growth.
The startup market is still at the early stage of development in Kazakhstan. There are acceleration programs, such as AIFC Fintech Hub, Astana Hub and TechGarden that operate here. AIFC may provide additional incentives for the market.
“The jurisdiction of AIFC is just being built but the principles that are embedded in it, are the most advanced in the CIS. Perhaps, this is the best structure in the CIS,” - emphasized Alexei Girin, co-founder and general partner of Starta Ventures.
For startups, the markets of the CIS countries are small. For example, there are over 120 million online users in Russia; and therefore, large local companies e.g. Mail.ru, Yandex, Ozone and Wildberries work in the retail segment.
“To become a corporate player, one should enter the global market. For example, every startup is global in Israel, because the local market does not exist and it is necessary to travel to the US, UK and China for business growth,” - highlighted Victor Orlovsky, general partner of the FortRoss Ventures capital fund.
A similar situation is present in Ukraine. Investor Murat Abdrakhmanov pointed out that local companies are focused on the foreign market. As a result, there are three unicorn companies: People.ai, Gitlab, and Grammarly.
The directions of fintech, marketplaces, as well as medical tech are developing in Uzbekistan. The volume of venture capital in the country is less than $10 million, the investors are local angel investors and foreign funds. In this regard, Dilshod Zufarov, general director of the Venture Capital Association of Uzbekistan, proposed the creation of a Central Asian Investment Club to unite all investors and the funds in the region.
During the current crisis, technology companies have intensified their benefits, and their valuations by investors have increased. Astana International Financial Centre offers a complete and multi-functional legal platform for attracting, implementing and protecting investments.
Reference:
Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) was created by the initiative of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev. The constitutional law on the establishment of the AIFC was signed on December 7, 2015. The purpose of AIFC is the formation of a leading centre of financial services on international level. AIFC’s tasks are to assist in attracting investments to the country’s economy by creating an attractive environment for investing in financial services, developing the securities market of the Republic of Kazakhstan, ensuring its integration with international capital markets. www.aifc.kz
AIFC Fintech Hub is the meeting point for global startups, entrepreneurs, corporations, investors, experts and specialist in the field of innovation. The development of fintech at the AIFC includes programs for startup support, corporative innovations, the venture capital market, specially developed rules and regulators that allow testing products and solutions in the field of fintech. http://www.fintech.aifc.kz/
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