14 March 2022

The accelerator began work in September 2021, and 12 women entrepreneurs (from Nukus and Muynak) were selected from 65 applications.

Key figures of the program:

• 65 applications from women entrepreneurs
• 12 startups participated in the 6-months acceleration program
• 6 startups reached the final
• 8 offline events in Nukus and Muynak
• 5 online workshops for mentors in Karakalpakstan (TOT)
• 18 online workshops on business and startups
• 8 online workshops with foreign Oracle experts 

6 women entrepreneurs presented their projects at Demo Day:

• Ainura Iniyatova (school teacher, Muynak)
• Albina Sarsengaliyeva (craftswoman, Nukus-Kungrad)
• Aisulu Khalmuratova (student, Nukus)
• Gulbanu Khojanova (student, Nukus)
• Gulzarkhan Toreniyazova (agricultural engineer, Nukus)
• Zhuldyz Abatbaeva (entrepreneur, Nukus)

Experts from various local and international organizations were invited to evaluate the projects:

• Seytova Leyli Pulatovna, deputy of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, member of the Ecological Party of Uzbekistan
• Gulzira Bakhieva, Head of the Secretariat for Mahalla and Family Support, Council of Ministers of the Republic of Karakalpakstan.
• Azamat Matkarimov, Analyst, EBRD Small Business Advisory Program
• Dinora Tashimova, Deputy Manager of the Karakalpak branch of JSCB “Halq Bank”
• Amélie Leclere, business development manager for the French water technology company SUEZ International SAS.
• Ayzhamal Taubaldieva, manager of the Jipek Joli hotel chain
• Aziza Aitzhanova, specialist in projects involvement in the Technopark, at the Ministry of Innovative Development in Nukus

Ms. Amélie Leclere also shared information about SUEZ projects in Uzbekistan and water technologies that work in other countries and can be applied in Karakalpakstan.

The main part of the event was the presentation of projects. Each project was given 5 minutes for a presentation and 5 minutes for a session of questions from the jury experts.

Projects evaluation criteria are the following:

• market/business potential;
• social impact/ job creation;
• innovative / technological potential;
• environmental aspects of the project / climate impact;
• team competencies;
• quality of pitch.

As a result of the pitches, the judges selected the 3 best projects: 

• Albina Sarsengaliyeva, Albina Art project
• Gulzarkhan Toreniyazova, Microgreens project
• Gulbanu Khojanova, Hydroponics project

The winning teams will receive 21.5 million soums of investments each, for the development of their business.

Congratulations to all participants, and we wish you success in the growth of your startups!

In May, we will start receiving applications for the next cohort of the program, stay tuned!

Project “Accelerating Women’s Climate Change Tech Startups in Uzbekistan“ is implemented by Tech4Impact and funded by The United Nations Democracy Fund.

We would like to thank the Association for the Support of Children and Families of Karakalpakstan and the Youth Affairs Agency for their assistance in organizing the event!