Silkroad Innovation Hub, in partnership with TechCrunch and Freedom Holding Corp., has announced the launch of the first-ever regional competitive selection for the finals of the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield pitch contest. The event is scheduled to be held within the largest technology conference TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 in San Francisco later this year.
Teams from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan are eligible to participate. At the national and regional selections, three startups will receive guaranteed spots in the finals, which will take place from Oct. 27 to 29 in California. Applications are open until July 15.
Contest organizers highlighted that the region, with a population exceeding 100 million, remains underrepresented on the global venture map, despite the presence of 7,000 active startups in crucial sectors and approximately 200,000 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) specialists graduating annually across the region.
According to them, venture investments in the region have demonstrated impressive dynamics, surging 5.5-fold over the past several years to reach $150 million in 2024.
«Freedom Holding Corp. has been supporting Central Eurasian teams on the global TechCrunch stage for several years now, and this year is no exception,» said Marlen Sikhayev, advisor to the president of Freedom Finance Global PLC.
The three winners of the selection contest will earn a guaranteed spot in the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200. They will also receive flight tickets and accommodation for two team members, an exhibit table for all days of TechCrunch Disrupt, access to investors and media support.
TechCrunch Disrupt is one of the world’s most prominent tech conferences, attracting more than 165,000 participants. Over the years, among TechCrunch speakers were Tesla and X owner Elon Musk, professional tennis player Serena Williams and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
At the core of the event lies TechCrunch Startup Battlefield — a platform with an impressive 15-year history of launching tech giants such as Trello, Dropbox, N26, Mint and Forethought AI.
The project has graduated companies that have collectively attracted more than $35 billion in investments, with over 50 of them emerged as unicorns.
Recently, several Kazakhstani startups have gained recognition from investors and major companies, including the Grand Mobile: RP Life Simulator developer, which successfully raised $750,000; Metaclinic, a provider of online medical consultations that secured $150,000 in funding; and Qala AI, an UrbanTech company that signed a memorandum of understanding with Nippon Koei to analyze the seismic risk of Almaty’s infrastructure.
