Kazakhstan Aims for $1 Billion Venture Fund to Attract Startups

Kazakhstan's government announced plans to target $1 billion in investment to support regional startups and cutting-edge technologies by launching a venture capital fund of funds next year, The Caspian Post reports citing BNN Bloomberg.

Central Asia’s biggest oil producer has seen the rise of home-grown fintech companies such as US-listed Kaspi.kz, while the authorities have sought to break its dependence on energy revenue. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has vowed to reduce the state’s role in the economy and to attract $150 billion in foreign investment by the end of his term in 2029.

Now, the Qazaqstan Venture Group aims to invest in leading global and local venture funds that finance the newest technologies, including artificial intelligence, according to the minister of digital, innovations and aerospace.

“We want startups, including fintech, medtech and AI, in the region to come to Kazakhstan,” Zhaslan Madiyev said in a phone interview. The fund will help the best of them on the way to becoming unicorns, he said.

Kazakhstan will start attracting money in the first half of 2025, with national development holding Baiterek investing $30 million, Madiyev said. A ministry unit will run the fund, where private investors have given preliminary agreement to provide more than $90 million, he said.

The fund will invest 30% of the pooled money in the central Asian and Caucasus region, with the rest expected to be placed in the US and other international markets, Madiyev said.

Kazakhstan is also in talks with funds from the Middle East and global financial institutions to attract investment for the new initiative, the minister said.