ASTANA – Fifteen startups from Central Eurasia have become finalists of the sixth cohort of the Silkway Accelerator, an international joint program of Astana Hub and Google for Startups, the hub’s press service reported on July 8.
Photo credit: Astana Hub
The finalists include Tryverse (Azerbaijan) platform for generating 3D and AR content for e-commerce, Booster (the Kyrgyz Republic) digital system for managing garment production from order to shipment, Steppe AI (Mongolia) Internet of Things+Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform for logistics, energy, agriculture and smart cities, Marjan (Uzbekistan) app-based logistics for hiring drivers and renting truck bodies without intermediaries, and epsilon3.ai (Tajikistan) – AI solutions for government agencies – forecasts, identifying anomalies, automating processes.
Kazakhstan is represented by ten startups. Among them are Messiah, an AI video marketing service for social media; Paidax, a social brokerage investment platform; Daryn.online, an EdTech exam prep with analytics and teacher support; MacDent AI, a smart Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system for clinics; ROSTA, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform for Hotel, Restaurant, Cafe/Catering (HoReCa) and retail; on.ai, an AI sales automation tool; Mirai Tech, sensory AI insoles for health and sports; Playlish, AI-based English learning; pwron.ai, deep analytics and marketing insights; and Yume, Software as a Service (SaaS) for managing rental businesses.
All selected startups are at the PMF or Scale stage with functional products already on the market.
Over the next three months, the teams will undergo offline acceleration in Astana, including intensive tracking, mentorship from international experts, assistance in testing hypotheses, product and metrics development, networking, a free office and co-living space. Participants will also be eligible for investment from the Astana Hub Ventures fund.
The program will culminate in a Demo Day during the Digital Bridge 2025 forum, scheduled for Oct. 2-4 in Almaty, where startups will pitch to investors, corporations, and global tech ecosystem players.
Over three years, Silkway Accelerator has received around 1,500 applications, selected 77 startups from Central Eurasia, 62 of which have already completed the program. In total, they attracted more than $28 million in investments with combined valuations exceeding $500 million.
