The key facts

  • The Land of Startups competition regulations were approved by a Cabinet of Ministers resolution dated October 28; the prize fund is $5 million
  • The first competition will launch in April 2027 and will cover five tracks — from AI to game development
  • The list of activities for IT Park residents has been expanded, and some reporting requirements have been abolished

A competition with a $5 million prize fund

Starting in 2027, Uzbekistan will annually host the international startup competition 'Land of Startups'. This was announced by the Ministry of Digital Technologies. The competition regulations were approved by a Cabinet of Ministers resolution dated October 28, aimed at attracting foreign startup projects to the country, supporting technology transfer and establishing a regional startup hub. The total prize fund will be $5 million.

Five tracks of the first competition

The first Land of Startups competition will launch in April 2027 and will cover five tracks: artificial intelligence technologies; digital technologies in the social sphere — education, healthcare and public services; financial technologies; the creative industry and game development, including computer and mobile games; as well as B2B and industrial solutions.

Updated rules for IT Park

Under the same package of decisions the government updated the regulation governing IT Park's operations. The list of activities available to residents of the technology park has been expanded: it now includes the development and sale of Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence devices, micro- and nanoelectronics manufacturing, intelligent robotics, as well as the activities of 'business angel' clubs. At the same time, the requirement to integrate metering and measurement tools created by residents in the automation field with tax authority systems has been abolished. Residents are no longer required to submit tax and statistical reports to the IT Park directorate, nor information about information technology training courses.

Context: the startup support ecosystem

The resolution was adopted in pursuance of the president's February document on introducing a comprehensive startup support ecosystem. That program provides for startup idea competitions among schoolchildren and students, as well as four-stage support for projects — from development to scaling and export. The new competition was announced against the backdrop of continued investment inflows into local projects: earlier, Spot reported that the Delever startup raised $380 thousand from AloqaVentures and Nexus Club.