The venture market in Central Asia and the Caucasus has grown five and a half times over the past five years, a study by Rise Research shows. Kazakhstan has become the absolute leader in terms of the pace of market development and the volume of risk transactions.
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The volume of the venture market in the ACC region (Central Asia and the Caucasus) exceeded $110 million in 2023. This is stated in the results of the Rise Research study, reviewed by RB.RU.
“Despite the growth, the ecosystem remains small, suggesting there is plenty of room for additional investment,” the study’s authors noted.
The volume of venture transactions in Kazakhstan amounted to more than $80 million with an average transaction size of $1 million in 2023. Over the past six years, the number of venture transactions has increased six-fold and the size average transactions has multiplied by 3.8. Local investors represented 45% of the total funds raised.
In Uzbekistan, the volume of risk transactions in 2023 was double that of 2022 and amounted to more than 6 million dollars, and the total number increased by 1.42 (34 transactions). 60% of all investments came from international investors.
The volume of venture investments in Georgia in 2023 was 4 times higher than in 2022 and amounted to more than $21.6 million. More than half of the total investment amount came from four large transactions: Pave Bank, Cargon, Hexacore and CityPay.io.
The venture financing market in Azerbaijan in 2023 fell compared to 2022, its volume amounted to $2.2 million, but the average check per investment round increased from $95,000 to $163,000.
In Kyrgyzstan, the volume of venture financing also decreased: in 2023 it amounted to $1.1 million compared to $1.2 million in 2022.
“It should be noted that in recent years the country has seen an increase in the number of qualified technicians. However, due to the rather small domestic market and lack of funding, these talents go abroad and found projects that have little or no connection with Kyrgyzstan,” the authors of the study noted.
In 2023, the volume of risk transactions in the Tajikistan market amounted to 2 million dollars. Almost all venture investments in the 2022-2023 period corresponded to the fintech project Zypl.ai, which develops a credit rating tool based on artificial intelligence.
Rise Research conducted the study together with the EA Group holding company and BGlobal Ventures, as well as with the participation of Crunchbase, the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan and KPMG Caucasus and Central Asia.
Author:
Kirill Bilyk
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
