There are several grants available for the startup ecosystem. As venture capitalists, we are actively engaged in the following grant programs: President Tech Award — every year, they allocate $1 million USD. The first place receives $100K, second place $50K, and third place $30K. Additionally, there is a Hackathon prize of $100K. President Tech Award allocated 2 mln USD.
The World Bank’s Grant Competition — program supports the commercialization of research results under the “Modernization of Uzbekistan’s National Innovation System” (MUNIS) project.
Research Commercialization Program (RCP) — Up to $150K.
Business Investments in R&D Program (BIRD) — Up to $600K.
Grant programs are crucial for the venture capital pipeline; successful startups will secure funding from angels and VCs, CVCs.
This year, more than 5 new Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) will invest an additional $50 million through venture arms. Local market needs more talent. More and more diversified sector will be boosted through this initiative.
Furthermore, AloqaVentures powered Startup Garage will open 14 branches, Tashkent branch showed successful traction, 40 startups there, the best ones received angel investments from private sector up to $900K.
Startup Garages in the regions need talent. We’re not only preparing them for venture investments, but also searching for solutions to regional problems through startups.
If we find promising solutions, we attract funding from both the private and public sectors. Just as Israel developed drip irrigation when faced with water scarcity, we too must introduce innovations or implement existing solutions from around the world to solve our own problems.
The main plan for this year is a little Angel support fund. Angels who invest $1 will have the Angel support fund co-invest $1.
