The startup ecosystem in Central Eurasia is having its second. What began as 485 functions from throughout 27 international locations — together with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Pakistan, Qatar, Romania, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, UAE, the U.Ok., Ukraine, the U.S., Uzbekistan, and Vietnam — has culminated within the largest startup pitch competitors in Central Eurasia’s historical past.
The “Highway to Battlefield” is placing the area’s most promising entrepreneurs on a direct path to San Francisco’s most prestigious startup stage at TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield 200.
The Highway to Battlefield competitors, organized by Silkroad Innovation Hub in partnership with TechCrunch and Freedom Holding, is extra than simply one other startup contest. It marks a historic milestone for a area that has been steadily constructing its dynamic tech ecosystem and will likely be remembered because the occasion that put Central Eurasia on the worldwide startup map.
Asset Abdualiyev, CEO and founding father of Silkroad Innovation Hub, had this to say:
At Silkroad Innovation Hub, our mission is to place Central Eurasia on the worldwide startup and VC map. This initiative represents an vital milestone as a result of, for the primary time, TechCrunch hosted a regional competitors to supply nice startups for his or her prestigious Battlefield competitors. Once we started, it was merely an thought, a imaginative and prescient to empower founders from underrepresented geographies. We’re happy to announce that this has develop into the biggest startup competitors in Central Eurasia’s historical past, demonstrating a major curiosity from founders throughout the area in constructing really revolutionary corporations and showcasing them globally. We’re grateful to TechCrunch for his or her continued partnership and their ongoing curiosity within the area.
Between July 21 and August 12, 380 startups pitched throughout 9 nationwide rounds on-line, delivering a powerful 32 hours of pitching content material. The competitors showcased outstanding variety, with 35% of taking part startups based by ladies, and the youngest entrepreneur, simply 14 years previous, was from Unify (Uzbekistan).
The startups represented numerous growth phases: 43 within the thought stage, 224 with MVPs, 127 in pre-seed, 65 within the seed stage, and 26 in pre-Sequence A.
Now, 4 standout startups — Polygraf AI (Azerbaijan and USA), QuickShipper (Georgia), Surfaice (USA and Kazakhstan), and ArtSkin (Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan) — have secured spots at TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 2025 in San Francisco, the place they’ll compete in opposition to a few of the most promising ventures from around the globe.
Techcrunch occasion
San Francisco
|
October 27-29, 2025
This marks the primary time in TechCrunch historical past that startups from Central Eurasia have had a devoted pathway to one of many tech world’s most prestigious competitions. Past figuring out high-potential ventures, the initiative has sparked cross-border collaboration, attracted worldwide investor curiosity, and firmly positioned Central Eurasia as a area to observe on the worldwide innovation map.
Zhaslan Madiyev, Minister of Digital Growth, Innovation, and Aerospace Trade of Kazakhstan, mentioned:
The 168 functions from Kazakhstan to the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield regional choice is a transparent sign of our ecosystem’s rising maturity and international ambition. This degree of engagement displays the effectiveness of our nationwide innovation technique. By way of Astana Hub and strategic partnerships with international platforms, we’re dedicated to supporting Kazakh entrepreneurs as they scale internationally.
Competitors outcomes
Following the nationwide rounds from July 21 to August 12, the competitors concluded with a Regional Closing of Highway to Battlefield on August 15, the place 20 finalists offered to a world panel of judges.
The 20 finalists who superior to the Regional Competitors have been Arlan Biotech, Artskin, Athena AI, Biometric Imaginative and prescient, EZSpeech by Mila4AI, FabStory AI, HaWoO2, Hello Physician, Investbanq, and Jobster.hr, LYDYA, MiraiTech, NeuroGuard AI, Pikare SkySource, Polygraf AI, QuickShipper, Snory, Steppe AI, Surfaice, and Zero Waste.
A panel of 40 jury members from 10 international locations judged the nationwide on-line competitions, representing a broad spectrum of traders, lecturers, and ecosystem leaders. The jury included Aidana Bergazdenova (Astana Hub Ventures), Dalerkhon Nodirov (IT Park Ventures), Zolzaya Jargalsaikhan (IT Park Mongolia), Abdulla Al-Naimi (Doha Enterprise Consulting), Agahuseyn Ahmadov (IDDA), Alya Abbaszada (SABAH Angels), Marat Tolybai (Activat VC), Samir Hajibayli (Caucasus Ventures), Yuhan Fang (Stanford Institute), Nihal Yazgan (Bilkent CYBERPARK), Müge Bezgin (Startup Centrum), Kim Latypov (VC Lawyer, Stanford GSB), Deon Nicholas (Forethought AI, winner of Startup Battlefield 2018), Ella Shukho (500 World), Darsh Mann (StartX), Aziza Zakhidova (EBRD Ventures), Abay Absamet (Silkroad Angels Membership), Isabelle Johannessen, Head of TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield program, and others.
Isabelle Johannessen says:
It’s humbling and energizing to see this degree of pleasure for Startup Battlefield. The SilkRoad Innovation Hub — Highway to Battlefield was probably the most organized and high-energy pitch occasions I’ve seen, and the passion from founders throughout Central Eurasia was unimaginable. We’re thrilled to welcome Polygraf AI, QuickShipper, Surfaice, and ArtSkin to San Francisco as a part of the Startup Battlefield 200 — and might’t wait to share their tales with the world.
For the primary time within the competitors’s historical past, the panel was joined by an AI decide named AI-Gerim, who served as an unbiased jury member, including an revolutionary layer of analysis to pitches. Collectively, this mix of world experience and AI-driven insights units a brand new normal for assessing rising startups.
The startups showcased a vibrant cross-section of industries, with synthetic intelligence main the best way. Founders tackled real-world issues in AI and automation, edtech, well being tech, fintech, inexperienced and local weather tech, agritech, HR tech, martech, SaaS, and e-commerce.
After a extremely aggressive ultimate spherical, 4 profitable startups have been chosen to signify Central Eurasia:
Polygraf AI (Azerbaijan)
Picture Credit:Silkroad (opens in a brand new window)
Polygraf AI delivers domestically deployed AI options that detect AI threats and shield insurance policies in opposition to any AI options. Their SLM (small language mannequin) AI options are quick and carry out the very best accuracy in third-party audits.
“I feel the Central Asian and Caucasus-based founders are rising stronger, and this competitors confirmed once more that expertise is not an issue. It’s not simply remoted to the Western world. Now we have an incredible expertise in there, and all of the contributors confirmed it,” mentioned Yagub Rahimov, founding father of Polygraf AI.
“The competitors was correct, wonderful. All of the contributors offered wonderful options and instruments. However as in each different competitors, there’s one primary, and I’m so glad that Polygraph was that primary. Now we have received South by Southwest, Summerfest Tech AI Summit, and a number of different awards already this yr. We need to win the Startup Battlefield this yr, too.”
QuickShipper (Georgia)
Picture Credit:Silkroad (opens in a brand new window)
QuickShipper is a supply gateway that permits each retailer to supply environment friendly and pleasant deliveries immediately from a single window. The startup presents corporations a complete ecosystem for managing their in-house drivers, together with a community of built-in supply companions.
“It was an important expertise to compete with startups from so many various and attention-grabbing markets. The variety of concepts and expertise was inspiring, and it makes it an excellent greater honor to signify the Eurasian market within the finals now,” mentioned Mariam Akhvlediani, co-founder and CEO of QuickShipper.
“We really feel proud and excited to be within the Prime 4. It’s a important milestone for QuickShipper and different startups to be on such a stage. We see it as each a recognition of our laborious work and an opportunity to point out what we will do on a world degree.”
Surfaice (Kazakhstan and USA)
Picture Credit:Silkroad (opens in a brand new window)
Surfaice presents a unified AI-driven working system that includes an autonomous fleet of brokers that combine workflows reminiscent of website search, budgeting, bidding, punch-list automation, and milestone monitoring. This ends in a 2x improve in productiveness, for instance, doubling the variety of retailer builds per yr from about 100 to 200. It supplies a single, complete platform for all their development software program.
“I feel our journey to Battlefield has been very dramatic as a result of we nearly missed the deadline to use for this program, however then I motivated my workforce. So think about if I hadn’t pushed them and we missed this deadline, we in all probability would have missed this chance,” mentioned Alim Uderbekov, Surfaice CEO and co-founder.
“General, it was nice to compete with all the opposite startups and eventually be on the stage. It’s also humorous that, simply in the present day, I randomly got here throughout a video about Pied Piper from the Silicon Valley TV present, the place they have been additionally attending TechCrunch Battlefield, and I believed, ‘Wow, is that this actual?’ It’s actually laborious to grasp your emotions since you’re simply strolling ahead, which is a journey that we’re going by means of. Nevertheless it’s so thrilling, my complete previous, the place I’m coming from, a small metropolis in South Kazakhstan, and I’d be on the primary stage for a startup in Silicon Valley, that I used to see solely just about, and now I’m develop into a part of it. I feel it’s unbelievable.”
ArtSkin (Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan)
In an unprecedented transfer that added much more pleasure to the competitors, TechCrunch determined to make its personal choice and select ArtSkin as a particular choose, bringing the overall to 4 startups representing the area.
ArtSkin develops neurointerface know-how that transmits the feeling of contact to the human physique throughout a number of cutting-edge fields, together with AR/VR, bionic prosthetics, telerobotics, house tech, surgical procedure, and humanoid robotics.
“Being chosen as one of many prime 4 startups to pitch on the primary stage on the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield finals is a unprecedented honor and an exciting milestone,” mentioned Iliias Dzheentaev and Madina Sabitqyzy, co-founders of ArtSkin.
“It validates our workforce’s dedication, innovation, and relentless pursuit of excellence. Figuring out we’re among the many prime 200 startups on the planet fills us with satisfaction and pleasure, but in addition a profound sense of accountability. We’re now extra motivated than ever to raise our pitch, refine our technique, and showcase our imaginative and prescient to a world viewers. Our ambition is obvious: we’re aiming to win TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, and this chance is a essential step towards attaining that purpose.”
The opposite prime 10 finalists have been Arlan Biotech, Investbanq, Athena AI, MiraiTech, HaWoO2, and Biometric Imaginative and prescient.
These 4 groups now face a couple of months of preparation earlier than stepping onto the primary stage. At TechCrunch Disrupt, they’ll pitch alongside startups from everywhere in the world competing for funding, partnerships, and international recognition.
Past the pitch
For taking part founders, the competitors delivered worth past the ultimate rankings. The publicity, connections, and validation from taking part in a globally acknowledged platform proved transformative in methods they hadn’t anticipated.
What’s taking place throughout Central Eurasia displays an important growth. This isn’t nearly particular person corporations searching for funding; it’s about a complete area’s entrepreneurs measuring themselves in opposition to international requirements and discovering they belong within the dialog.
“For Uzbekistan, participation in international arenas like TechCrunch Startup Battlefield is not only about visibility, it’s about shaping a future the place our tech expertise leads on the worldwide stage,” mentioned Sherzod Shermatov, Minister of Digital Applied sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan. “Our purpose is to make sure that the following technology of breakthrough applied sciences isn’t simply utilized in Uzbekistan; it’s constructed right here.”
The influence of Highway to Battlefield extends past the ultimate pitch shows. The competitors has inspired cross-border dialogue amongst entrepreneurs throughout the area and attracted new investor curiosity in Central Eurasian startups.
The primary associate is Freedom Holding Corp., a Nasdaq-listed monetary companies holding firm (ticker: FRHC) headquartered in Kazakhstan. As of Could 2025, the corporate achieved a outstanding milestone with a valuation of roughly $10 billion, reflecting investor confidence and market energy.
It has established itself as probably the most influential monetary gamers within the area, incomes a powerful status for supporting innovation and entrepreneurship. Its assist for the Highway to Battlefield displays not solely its international stature but in addition its long-term dedication to empowering founders from Central Eurasia, serving to them join with worldwide markets and scale their influence.
Extra considerably, it has launched Central Eurasia to the tech world in Silicon Valley as a supply of revolutionary options and rising expertise. The competitors was supported by main innovation hubs and accelerators throughout the area: Azerbaijan — Innovation and Digital Growth Company, SABAH.Hub, SABAH.angels; Bulgaria/USA — Future Unicorns; Georgia — Future Laboratory; Worldwide Organizations — Group of Turkic States, EBRD; Kazakhstan — Astana Hub, Astana Hub Ventures, Nazarbayev College, Silkroad Angels Membership; Kyrgyzstan — Speed up Prosperity; Media — The Tech; Moldova — Startup Moldova; Mongolia — IT Park Mongolia; Singapore — ACE; Tajikistan — IT Park Dushanbe; Türkiye — Startup Centrum, Bilkent Cyberpark; and Uzbekistan — IT Park Uzbekistan, IT Park Ventures. The initiative related founders who won’t have in any other case collaborated and supplied a platform to showcase regional expertise on a world scale.
“Because the Innovation and Digital Growth Company of Azerbaijan, we’re very completely happy to associate with Silkroad Innovation Hub and actively take part in TechCrunch Highway to Battlefield startup competitors,” mentioned Farid Osmanov, chairman of the Innovation and Digital Growth Company (IDDA) of Azerbaijan.
“We’re excited that Polygraf AI, an Azeri-founded startup, obtained into the highest 4 on this competitors and can signify the area on the prestigious TechCrunch Disrupt convention in San Francisco. This exhibits that the Azeri ecosystem is creating quick and we’re heading in the right direction.”
Because the 4 profitable startups put together for San Francisco, they signify the rising ambitions of Central Eurasia’s entrepreneurial group. The competitors has created new pathways for regional startups to entry worldwide alternatives and sources.
This text was co-written with Aikumis Seksenbayeva.
