Winners of Land of Startups competition in Uzbekistan to receive $200,000 each

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the regulations for the international competition Land of Startups, which has a prize fund of $5 million. The competition will be held in Uzbekistan starting in 2027.

The competition will cover five areas: artificial intelligence technologies; digital solutions for education, healthcare, and public services; financial technologies; creative industries, computer and mobile games; and solutions for B2B and industry.

Teams of at least three people, registered or operating abroad, will be eligible to participate. Applications will be accepted free of charge through a special portal on the Unified Electronic Platform of the startup ecosystem, Startup Base. Each team will be able to choose only one area.

By April 1 each year, organizers must announce the competition and conduct informational and explanatory work. Applications will be accepted until June 30. From July 1 to 20, foreign experts will evaluate them, and the results will be announced by July 25. At least 25 teams will be selected for each area; before the program starts, they will need to register legal entities in Uzbekistan.

From August 20 to November 1, teams will undergo training under the Softlanding market entry program. Evaluations will take place weekly. By November 15, the top five teams in each area—25 participants in total—will be determined. By December 15, organizers must hold a Demo Day with foreign investors, companies, and venture funds, as well as award the winners. Each of the 25 teams will receive up to $200,000 in investments from IT Park Ventures.

The competition will be overseen by an organizational committee of 11 people. It will be headed by the Minister of Digital Technologies, Sherzod Shermatov, with the First Deputy Minister of Digital Technologies for Digitalization, Ayyubkhon Sultanov, and the Director of the Agency for Youth Affairs, Alisher Sa’dullaev, serving as deputies.

The committee will also include a responsible official from the Presidential Administration—by agreement, the Governor of the Central Bank, Timur Ishmetov, the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Davron Vakhobov, the First Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Oybek Yuldashev, the First Deputy Minister of Health, Otabek Imamov, the First Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, Ilkhom Norkulov, and the Director of the NGO 'Artificial Intelligence Alliance,' A. Mukhitdinov. The Secretary will be the CEO of IT Park, Azamat Karamatov.

The responsible foreign organization in the field of digital services will be tasked with accepting applications, selecting participants, evaluating projects, and determining winners. IT Park will choose this organization as the working body of the competition.

The organization must meet requirements such as being registered as a legal entity in a developed country and having at least three years of practical experience in conducting acceleration programs, developing startups, and organizing related competitions. It must also have at least five successful startup support programs and a minimum of five startups that have undergone international acceleration and incubation and achieved a valuation exceeding $100 million. The staff must include experts and mentors with at least two years of experience in technological business, venture investments, and IT consulting.