Land of Startups Competition: 25 Winners to Receive up to $200,000 from IT Park Ventures

25 winners and investments of up to $200,000

The international Land of Startups competition with a prize fund of $5 million will be held in Uzbekistan starting in 2027. The Cabinet of Ministers approved its regulations, the details of which are reported by Spot.uz. The key outcome of the competition: in each of the five tracks, five best teams will be selected — 25 winners in total — and each will receive up to $200,000 in investments from the IT Park Ventures fund.

Five tracks and participation conditions

The program will cover five tracks: artificial intelligence technologies; digital technologies in the social sphere (education, healthcare, public services); financial technologies; the creative industry and game development; and B2B and industrial solutions. Startup teams of at least three members, registered or operating abroad, may participate. Applications are accepted through a portal on the Startup Base platform; a team may submit an application for only one track, and participation is completely free of charge.

Annual cycle: from application to Demo Day

The regulations establish a recurring annual schedule. By April 1, the organizers publish announcements of the competition, and applications are accepted until June 30. From July 1 to July 20, applications undergo online evaluation with the participation of foreign experts, with results announced by July 25. In each track, at least 25 teams are selected, which must register legal entities in Uzbekistan before the program begins. From August 20 to November 1, teams go through the Softlanding local market entry program with weekly evaluations; by November 15, the five best teams in each track are determined, and by December 15 a Demo Day is held with foreign investors, companies and venture funds, along with the awarding of the winners.

Who leads and who selects

The competition is overseen by an 11-member organizing committee headed by Minister of Digital Technologies Sherzod Shermatov; his deputies are First Deputy Minister of Digital Technologies Ayubkhon Sultonov and Director of the Youth Affairs Agency Alisher Sa'dullayev. The committee also includes Central Bank Chairman Timur Ishmetov, Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Davron Vahobov, first deputy ministers of preschool and school education (Oybek Yuldashev), healthcare (Otabek Imamov) and economy and finance (Ilkhom Norkulov), director of the NGO 'Alliance of Artificial Intelligence' A. Mukhitdinov, while the committee's secretary is IT Park CEO Azamat Karamatov. A foreign organization in the field of digital services, to be selected by IT Park, will be responsible for reviewing applications, selecting participants and determining the winners. Requirements for it include: registration in a developed country, at least 3 years of experience in organizing acceleration programs, no fewer than 5 successful startup support programs, and at least 5 startups that have completed international acceleration with a valuation above $100 million.