NUR-SULTAN – The Silicon Valley-based Founder Institute will launch a pre-seed startup accelerator in November for entrepreneurs from Kazakhstan and Central Asia. The online program will aim to help build 20 promising technology companies per year in Central Asia.
Founder Institute Global Network.
Anarbek Utegulov, the Local Leader of the Kazakhstani division of the largest pre-seed startup accelerator – the Founder Institute – said that this is a perfect program for aspiring entrepreneurs looking to create a tech business, including those who have full-time jobs.
“If you have an idea and don’t know how to start, the Nur-Sultan Virtual 2020 Founder Institute online program will help you understand and prepare to launch a global startup in three and a half months. This is also a huge step for your personal development,” Utegulov added.
Anarbek Utegulov
Early registration costs $249 before September 20 and late registration is open until October 18 and costs $399.
According to Utegulov, the Founder Institute cohort will be held completely online to ensure the health and safety of the program’s mentors, partners, and participants.
The Nur-Sultan Virtual 2020 Founder Institute will also host a series of free online startup events, where attendees can learn how to build a company from ground up and learn more about the program.
Utegulov leads the Nazarbayev University Business Incubator and has been working with startup acceleration processes for more than three years.
“Last year, I took part in the Disrupt 2019 technology conference in San Francisco and learned more about the activities of the advanced accelerators in Silicon Valley. This inspired me to gain practical experience in a foreign incubator or accelerator and then to bring the best practices back to Kazakhstan,” he said.
Utegulov knew that the Founder Institute helped local players in the startup ecosystem to launch programs to support technology entrepreneurs using a proven methodology from Silicon Valley.
“We knew that there was an opportunity to open a chapter in Kazakhstan. This is how the story of the founding of the institute in Kazakhstan began. My team including Asylzhan Upasheva, Togzhan Uazikhanova, Bolat Sultankulov and Yernar Terlikbaev worked with me to launch this project,” he said.
As one of the world’s largest pre-seed startup accelerators, the Nur-Sultan Founder Institute uses a structured growth process to reduce the time and cost needed to build a startup. Program participants receive mentoring support and feedback from more than 40 technology entrepreneurs from Kazakhstan, Central Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as free access to a post-program package to receive investments from business angels and venture funds.
Startups such as Udemy, Realty Mogul, Feetz and Spikes Security have all graduated from the pre-seed accelerator program. Since 2009, the institute has helped more than 4,300 portfolio companies raise over $950 million in funding.
The Founder Institute was founded in 2009 by Adeo Ressi and Jonathan Greechan. It is operated out of Palo Alto, California. The institute is based in Silicon Valley with chapters in 200 cities and 75 countries.
Earlier, it was reported that startup companies in Kazakhstan showed a positive growth trend amid the pandemic by offering advanced solutions to meet the needs of customers. The startup companies have attracted about 5 billion tenge (US$11 million) of investments in the first half of 2020.
