Investment Prospects for Uzbek Startups: Insights from a MENA Region Expert

IT Park Tashkent hosted an exclusive workshop featuring Khalid Al Tattan, a distinguished expert in the startup ecosystem of the MENA region. Organized in collaboration with IT Park Saudi Arabia, the event served to strengthen cooperation between the technological ecosystems of Uzbekistan and the Gulf countries.

The workshop brought together startups at the Seed, Pre-Seed, and Idea stages, offering them a unique platform to gain valuable insights into investment attraction and business scaling within the Gulf markets. Khalid Al Tattan shared his extensive expertise and provided recommendations on several key aspects, including:

• Innovative Potential of the Gulf Countries: A discussion on current trends and high-potential niches for international startups in the MENA region.
• Investor Expectations: A comprehensive analysis of the key criteria investors apply when assessing startups, including market readiness, scalability, and priority sectors. 
• Case Study Analysis: A detailed examination of successful startups that have secured investments and effectively expanded their operations within the MENA region, highlighting their strategies and critical success factors.

Special emphasis was given to startups at the Seed and Pre-Seed stages, with Khalid Al Tattan underscoring that meticulous product development significantly increases the prospects of securing investment. Participants were also afforded the opportunity to submit their presentations in advance to receive tailored feedback from the expert. 

Cooperation with IT Park

During his visit to Uzbekistan, Khalid Al Tattan held a working meeting with representatives of IT Park Uzbekistan. He emphasized that Uzbekistan and the MENA region have potential for collaboration in three key startup sectors — FinTech, E-commerce, and Web3 — highlighting their strong profitability and demonstrated success in both Uzbekistan and the Gulf region.

Meetup with Startup Ecosystem Players

Khalid Al Tattan also convened with leading venture capital funds and key market players, including Aloqa Ventures, United Ventures, Startup Garage, C-Space, and U-Enter, to discuss prospects for further cooperation. Additionally, he held bilateral meetings with representatives of prominent Uzbek startups such as Jobster, Geomotive, Smartup, Verifix, Online Nurse, TextileFinds, and kpi.com, with a view to fostering mutually beneficial collaboration between Uzbekistan and MENA countries.

During these discussions, Khalid Al Tattan proposed the establishment of a joint acceleration program for startups, as well as scale-up initiatives designed to facilitate expertise exchange between the two regions.

The workshop concluded with a Q&A session, enabling startup representatives to receive personalized recommendations and deliberate on specific strategies for market entry into the Gulf region. Participants underscored the significant value of the insights provided and expressed confidence in the continued development of cooperation between Uzbekistan and the MENA region in the fields of technology and innovation.