ASTANA — President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with the founders of Kazakh IT startups expanding into international markets during his visit to Washington, DC, on Nov. 6, expressing support for the startups, Akorda press service reported.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with the founders of Kazakh IT startups. Photo credit: Akorda
“As President of the country, I support you. Your work is vital for the future of our nation. Digitalization and the development of the high-tech industry are of strategic importance,” Tokayev said.
The meeting brought together representatives of more than 20 startups with a combined valuation of $1.4 billion, underscoring the innovative potential of Kazakhstan’s national IT ecosystem.
Among the startups were Kazakhstan’s first “unicorn” Higgsfield AI, a platform for generating cinematic-quality video using AI, Deep Infra, a service for deploying and running machine learning models, Valinor, a biotechnology startup, and ARC Drones, a developer of autonomous drones.
President Tokayev was also briefed on the activities of Silkroad Innovations Hub, a technology hub that supports startups and talented youth from Central Eurasia countries in Silicon Valley. Its network of startups from nine countries — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, along with Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Georgia, and Mongolia quickly gained traction, attracting 80 resident startups that collectively secured over $30 million in funding.
Tokayev praised the achievements of domestic high-tech companies and emphasized the importance of implementing the strategic goal of transforming Kazakhstan into a fully digital nation within three years.
