Astana Hub Drives Major IT Export Growth in 2023
Astana Hub Technology Park Reports $282.4 Million IT Export Growth in Annual Results
ASTANA – Astana Hub technology park announced its annual results, reporting an IT export growth of $282.4 million. The hub attracted investments totaling 57.6 billion tenge ($127.8 million), leading to a cumulative revenue of 400.3 billion tenge ($888.7 million) and the creation of over 25,000 jobs, as reported by the hub’s press service on Jan. 26.
Magzhan Madiyev, the Astana Hub CEO, highlighted the successful attainment of all key performance indicators (KPIs). Participants increased the export of IT services by 84.3% compared to 2022, reaching 85 countries worldwide.
“The top countries for exports include the United States, Russia, Mexico, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. The export potential of startups significantly increased thanks to acceleration programs, successful collaborations with global leaders such as Google for Startups and Draper Startup House, and the launch of the Silkroad Innovation Hub—a platform for Central Eurasian IT startups in Silicon Valley,” he said.
Regional IT hubs have been successfully established in 14 regions of Kazakhstan, with plans for seven more this year.
“We launched the pilot project National Innovation System as a unified gateway for all participants in our country’s innovation ecosystem, based on our digital platform,” said Madiyev.
Main achievements
Last year, Astana Hub became the first partner of Draper Startup House in Central Asia. Thanks to this partnership, startups underwent the Hero Training acceleration program in Silicon Valley for the first time, developed by Draper University. One of the participants, CITIX, received a $1 million investment from Tim Draper.
Graduates of Techpreneurs, Startup Garage, Scalerator, Global Outsourcer acceleration, and incubation programs made sales worth 455 million tenge ($1 million). The accelerator collectively attracted $26 million in investments, reaching a total company valuation of over $400 million.
Thanks to sponsors and partners, the annual Astana Hub Battle prize fund has increased to $125,000. The third stream of the Seed Money program has also kicked off, with 11 startups selected for funding from Astana Hub receiving up to 10 million tenge ($22,201).
At the largest international conference, TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, 14 startups from Central Eurasia were presented. Most of them were graduates of Astana Hub’s acceleration programs and are currently successfully scaling their projects in global markets.
Under the Tech Orda program, 3,183 students received grants for training at leading IT schools. Thanks to the IT-Aiel program, created for women who want to master an IT specialty and earn money as a freelancer, 2,000 unemployed women received the opportunity for free training.
Digital Bridge-2023, the International IT Forum, attracted more than 30,000 participants, including delegations from 30 countries, making it the most extensive event in Central Eurasia. The forum included 55 panel sessions, roundtable discussions, and keynote presentations, presenting 450+ startups and IT companies, 450 speakers, and 100+ investors and business angels.
Last year, the Astana Hub organized 446 events attended by around 20,000 guests. Three hackathons and six scouting events were conducted jointly with partners, involving over 300 startups, of which 23 were selected for piloting and integration into companies. The GameDev Center, in collaboration with Playrix, Mytona, and G5 Games, organized more than 40 conferences, lectures, and meetups.
