Road to Battlefield: Central Eurasia’s largest startup competition in history sends four winners to TechCrunch Startup Battlefield

The startup ecosystem in Central Eurasia is having its second. What began as 485 functions from throughout 27 nations together with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Pakistan, Qatar, Romania, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, UAE, UK, Ukraine, USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam has culminated within the largest startup pitch competitors in Central Eurasia’s historical past the “Highway to the Battlefield”, that’s placing the area’s most promising entrepreneurs on a direct path to San Francisco’s most prestigious startup stage at TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200.

The Highway to the Battlefield competitors, organized by Silkroad Innovation Hub in partnership with TechCrunch and Freedom Holding, is extra than simply one other startup contest. It marks a historic milestone for a area that has been steadily constructing its dynamic tech ecosystem and can be remembered because the occasion that put Central Eurasia on the worldwide startup map.

“At Silkroad Innovation Hub, our mission is to place Central Eurasia on the worldwide startup and VC map,” stated Asset Abdualiyev, CEO and Founding father of Silkroad Innovation Hub. “This initiative represents an essential milestone as a result of, for the primary time, TechCrunch hosted a regional competitors to supply nice startups for his or her prestigious Battlefield competitors. Once we started, it was merely an thought, a imaginative and prescient to empower founders from underrepresented geographies. We’re happy to announce that this has turn out to be the most important startup competitors in Central Eurasia’s historical past, demonstrating a big curiosity from founders throughout the area in constructing really revolutionary firms and showcasing them globally. We’re grateful to TechCrunch for his or her continued partnership and their ongoing curiosity within the area.”

Between July 21 and August 12, 380 startups pitched throughout 9 nationwide rounds on-line, delivering a formidable 32 hours of pitching content material. The competitors showcased exceptional range, with 35% of taking part startups based by feminine founders, and the youngest entrepreneur, simply 14 years outdated, was from Unify (Uzbekistan).

The startups represented varied growth levels: 43 within the thought stage, 224 with MVPs, 127 in pre-seed, 65 within the seed stage, and 26 in pre-Collection A. 

Now, 4 standout startups, Polygraf AI (Azerbaijan, USA), QuickShipper (Georgia), Surfaice (USA, Kazakhstan), and ArtSkin (Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan) have secured spots at TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 2025 in San Francisco, the place they’ll compete in opposition to a few of the most promising ventures from around the globe.

This marks the primary time in TechCrunch historical past that startups from Central Eurasia have had a devoted pathway to one of many tech world’s most prestigious competitions. Past figuring out high-potential ventures, the initiative has sparked cross-border collaboration, attracted worldwide investor curiosity, and firmly positioned Central Eurasia as a area to observe on the worldwide innovation map.

“The 168 functions from Kazakhstan to the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield regional choice is a transparent sign of our ecosystem’s rising maturity and international ambition,” stated Zhaslan Madiyev, Minister of Digital Improvement, Innovation, and Aerospace Trade of Kazakhstan. “This stage of engagement displays the effectiveness of our nationwide innovation technique. By way of Astana Hub and strategic partnerships with international platforms, we’re dedicated to supporting Kazakh entrepreneurs as they scale internationally.”

Competitors Outcomes

Following the nationwide rounds from July 21 to August 12, the competitors concluded with a Regional Ultimate of Highway to Battlefield on August 15, the place 20 finalists introduced to a global panel of judges.

The 20 finalists who superior to the Regional Competitors have been Arlan Biotech, Artskin, Athena AI, Biometric Imaginative and prescient, EZSpeech by Mila4AI, FabStory AI, HaWoO2, Hello Physician, Investbanq, and Jobster.hr, LYDYA, MiraiTech, NeuroGuard AI, Pikare SkySource, Polygraf AI, QuickShipper, Snory, Steppe AI, Surfaice, and Zero Waste.

A panel of 40 jury members from 10 nations judged the nationwide on-line competitions, representing a broad spectrum of buyers, lecturers, and ecosystem leaders. The jury included Aidana Bergazdenova (Astana Hub Ventures), Dalerkhon Nodirov (IT Park Ventures), Zolzaya Jargalsaikhan (IT Park Mongolia), Abdulla Al-Naimi (Doha Enterprise Consulting), Agahuseyn Ahmadov (IDDA), Alya Abbaszada (SABAH Angels), Marat Tolybai (Activat VC), Samir Hajibayli (Caucasus Ventures), Yuhan Fang (Stanford Institute), Nihal Yazgan (Bilkent CYBERPARK), Müge Bezgin (Startup Centrum), Kim Latypov (VC Lawyer, Stanford GSB), Deon Nicholas (Forethought AI, winner of TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 2018), Ella Shukho (500 World), Darsh Mann (StartX), Aziza Zakhidova (EBRD Ventures), Abay Absamet (Silkroad Angels Membership), Isabelle Johannessen, Head of TechCrunch Startup Battlefield Program, and others.

“It’s humbling and energizing to see this stage of pleasure for Startup Battlefield. The SilkRoad Innovation Hub – Highway to Battlefield was probably the most organized and high-energy pitch occasions I’ve seen, and the passion from founders throughout Central Eurasia was unimaginable. We’re thrilled to welcome Polygraf AI, QuickShipper,  Surfaice, and ArtSkin to San Francisco as a part of the Startup Battlefield 200 — and may’t wait to share their tales with the world.” – Isabelle Johannessen, TechCrunch.

For the primary time within the competitors’s historical past, the panel was joined by an AI choose named AI-Gerim, who served as an impartial jury member, including an revolutionary layer of analysis to pitches. Collectively, this mixture of world experience and AI-driven insights units a brand new customary for assessing rising startups.

The startups showcased a vibrant cross-section of industries, with Synthetic Intelligence main the best way. Founders tackled real-world issues in AI & Automation, EdTech, HealthTech, FinTech, Inexperienced & Local weather Tech, AgriTech, HRTech, MarTech, SaaS, and E-commerce.

After a extremely aggressive closing spherical, 4 successful startups have been chosen to characterize Central Eurasia:

Polygraf AI (Azerbaijan)

Polygraf AI delivers domestically deployed AI options that detect AI threats and shield insurance policies in opposition to any AI options. Their SLM (small language mannequin) AI options are quick and carry out the very best accuracy in third-party audits.

“I believe the Central Asian and Caucasus-based founders are rising stronger, and this competitors confirmed once more that expertise is now not an issue. It’s now not simply remoted to the Western world. We’ve got an incredible expertise in there, and all of the contributors confirmed it,” stated Yagub Rahimo, Founding father of Polygraf AI. “The competitors was correct, superb. All of the contributors introduced superb options and instruments. However as in each different competitors, there’s one primary, and I’m so glad that Polygraph was that primary. We’ve got received South by Southwest, Summerfest Tech AI Summit, and a number of different awards already this 12 months.  We wish to win the Startup Battlefield this 12 months, too.” 

QuickShipper (Georgia)

QuickShipper is a supply gateway that allows each retailer to supply environment friendly and pleasant deliveries immediately from a single window. The startup affords firms a complete ecosystem for managing their in-house drivers, together with a community of built-in supply companions.

“It was an excellent expertise to compete with startups from so many alternative and fascinating markets. The variety of concepts and expertise was inspiring, and it makes it a fair larger honor to characterize the Eurasian market within the finals now,” stated Mariam Akhvlediani, Co-founder & CEO of QuickShipper. “We really feel proud and excited to be within the Prime 4. It’s a important milestone for QuickShipper and different startups to be on such a stage. We see it as each a recognition of our arduous work and an opportunity to indicate what we are able to do on a world stage.”

Surfaice (Kazakhstan and USA)

Surfaice affords a unified AI-driven working system that includes an autonomous fleet of brokers that combine workflows resembling website search, budgeting, bidding, punch-list automation, and milestone monitoring. This ends in a 2X enhance in productiveness, for instance, doubling the variety of retailer builds per 12 months from about 100 to 200. It offers a single, complete platform for all their building software program.

“I believe our journey to Battlefield has been very dramatic as a result of we nearly missed the deadline to use for this program, however then I motivated my staff. So think about if I hadn’t pushed them and we missed this deadline, we in all probability would have missed this chance,” stated Alim Uderbekov, CEO & Co-Founder. “General, it was nice to compete with all the opposite startups and eventually be on the stage. It is usually humorous that, simply right now, I randomly got here throughout a video about Pied Piper from the Silicon Valley TV present, the place they have been additionally attending TechCrunch Battlefield, and I assumed, ‘Wow, is that this actual?’ It’s actually arduous to grasp your emotions since you’re simply strolling ahead, which is a journey that we’re going by means of. But it surely’s so thrilling, taking a look at my complete previous, the place I’m coming from, a small metropolis in South Kazakhstan, and I’d be on the primary stage for a startup in Silicon Valley, that I used to see solely just about, and now I’m turn out to be a part of it. I believe it’s unbelievable.”

In an unprecedented transfer that added much more pleasure to the competitors, TechCrunch determined to make their very own choice and select ArtSkin as a particular TechCrunch choose, bringing the overall to 4 startups representing the area. 

ArtSkin (Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan)

Artskin develops neurointerface know-how that transmits the feeling of contact to the human physique throughout a number of cutting-edge fields, together with AR/VR, bionic prosthetics, telerobotics, spacetech, surgical procedure, and humanoid robotics.

“Being chosen as one of many high 4 startups to pitch on the primary stage on the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield finals is a rare honor and an exciting milestone,” stated Iliias Dzheentaev and Madina Sabitqyzy, Co-founders of ArtSkin. “It validates our staff’s dedication, innovation, and relentless pursuit of excellence. Figuring out we’re among the many high 200 startups on the planet fills us with delight and pleasure, but in addition a profound sense of accountability. We’re now extra motivated than ever to raise our pitch, refine our technique, and showcase our imaginative and prescient to a world viewers. Our ambition is evident: we’re aiming to win TechCrunch Disrupt 2025, and this chance is a crucial step towards reaching that purpose.”

The opposite high 10 finalists have been Arlan Biotech, Investbanq, Athena AI, MiraiTech, HaWoO2, and Biometric Imaginative and prescient.

These 4 groups now face a couple of months of preparation earlier than stepping onto the primary stage. At TechCrunch Disrupt, they’ll pitch alongside startups from all around the world competing for funding, partnerships, and international recognition.

Past the Pitch

For taking part founders, the competitors delivered worth past the ultimate rankings. The publicity, connections, and validation from taking part in a globally acknowledged platform proved transformative in methods they hadn’t anticipated.

What’s taking place throughout Central Eurasia displays a vital growth. This isn’t nearly particular person firms looking for funding; it’s about a complete area’s entrepreneurs measuring themselves in opposition to international requirements and discovering they belong within the dialog.

“For Uzbekistan, participation in international arenas like TechCrunch Startup Battlefield isn’t just about visibility,  it’s about shaping a future the place our tech expertise leads on the worldwide stage,” stated Sherzod Shermatov, Minister of Digital Applied sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan. “Our purpose is to make sure that the following technology of breakthrough applied sciences isn’t simply utilized in Uzbekistan, it’s constructed right here.”

The influence of Highway to the Battlefield extends past the ultimate pitch shows. The competitors has inspired cross-border dialogue amongst entrepreneurs throughout the area and attracted new investor curiosity in Central Eurasian startups.

The primary associate is Freedom Holding Corp, a Nasdaq-listed monetary companies holding firm (ticker: FRHC) headquartered in Kazakhstan. As of Might 2025, the corporate achieved a exceptional milestone with a valuation of roughly US $10 billion, reflecting investor confidence and market energy. It has established itself as probably the most influential monetary gamers within the area, incomes a robust repute for supporting innovation and entrepreneurship. Its help for the Highway to TechCrunch Startup Battlefield displays not solely its international stature but in addition its long-term dedication to empowering founders from Central Eurasia, serving to them join with worldwide markets and scale their influence.

Extra considerably, it has launched Central Eurasia to the tech world in Silicon Valley as a supply of revolutionary options and rising expertise. The competitors was supported by main innovation hubs and accelerators throughout the area: Azerbaijan – Innovation and Digital Improvement Company, SABAH.Hub, SABAH.angels; Bulgaria/USA – Future Unicorns; Georgia – Future Laboratory; Worldwide Organizations – Group of Turkic States, EBRD; Kazakhstan – Astana Hub, Astana Hub Ventures, Nazarbayev College, Silkroad Angels Membership; Kyrgyzstan – Speed up Prosperity; Media – The Tech; Moldova – Startup Moldova; Mongolia – IT Park Mongolia; Singapore – ACE; Tajikistan – IT Park Dushanbe; Türkiye – Startup Centrum, Bilkent Cyberpark; and Uzbekistan – IT Park Uzbekistan, IT Park Ventures. The initiative related founders who won’t have in any other case collaborated and offered a platform to showcase regional expertise on a world scale.

“Because the Innovation and Digital Improvement Company of Azerbaijan, we’re very comfortable to associate with Silkroad Innovation Hub and actively take part in TechCrunch Highway to Battlefield startup competitors,” stated Farid Osmanov, Chairman of the Innovation and Digital Improvement Company (IDDA) of Azerbaijan. “We’re excited that Polygraf AI, an Azeri-founded startup, obtained into the highest 4 on this competitors and can characterize the area on the prestigious TechCrunch Disrupt convention in San Francisco. This exhibits that the Azeri ecosystem is creating quick and we’re heading in the right direction.”

Because the 4 successful startups put together for San Francisco, they characterize the rising ambitions of Central Eurasia’s entrepreneurial neighborhood. The competitors has created new pathways for regional startups to entry worldwide alternatives and assets.

This text was co-written with Aikumis Seksenbayeva.