Venture capital investments in Kazakhstan

Main Article: Venture Investing

Chronicle

2023: Kazakhstan's venture capital investment hits new record of $80 million

In 2023, the volume of venture capital investments in Kazakhstan reached a record $80 million. This indicator indicates a significant increase in investor interest in the Kazakh market and exceeds the indicators of previous years several times, the press service of the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan (ICRIAP) reported at the end of May 2024.

In 2023, 55 venture capital deals were concluded in Kazakhstan. The main recipients of venture capital were Kazakhstan projects, including OneVision, Clockster, Easytap, CTOgram, CerebraAI and others. The financial sector remains a leader in attracting investment, which confirms the high potential of innovative financial technologies. One notable example is Prosper Pay, which provides a payday pay access service that significantly transforms traditional financial services.

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According to ICRIAP, Most Ventures, Big Sky Capital, Tumar Venture Fund, EA Group and Quest Ventures have become key players in the venture capital investment market in Kazakhstan. Nomad VC, Activat VC and 500 Ventures also played an active role.

Ainur Zhanturina, founder of RISE Research, noted that in 2023 Kazakhstan took a leading position in terms of venture capital transactions among the countries of Central Asia and Transcaucasia. "Venture deals from 2018 to 2023 grew 5.5 times. The number of startups is six times and the number of active investors is 2.6 times, "Zhanturina said. According to her, despite significant growth, the venture ecosystem of Kazakhstan is still at the formation stage.

According to RISE Research, the average venture capital deal in Kazakhstan in 2023 amounted to $1 million, which is 3.8 times more than in 2018. The bulk of the deals were done at the pre-seed and seed stages, indicating high interest in the early stages of startup development.

A study conducted by RISE Research together with EA Group and BGlobal Ventures showed that in 2023 Kazakhstan was able to attract significant amounts of venture capital, which is a positive signal for the further development of the startup ecosystem.^[1]

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