32 green startups have been selected for the global GCIP Kazakhstan acceleration program by UNIDO

32 startups from across Kazakhstan have been selected to participate in the global clean technology innovation program GCIP Kazakhstan by UNIDO. Applications were accepted starting April 1. A total of more than 140 applications were submitted. Fifty-five projects passed the initial screening. Of these, 32 scored the highest points according to the independent commission’s evaluation. These startups demonstrated innovative solutions aimed at addressing environmental challenges. Participants include school students as well as women entrepreneurs.

GCIP Kazakhstan 2024 acceleration will begin on August 1. Participants will undergo several months of intensive training led by international experts from NGIN (USA), receive mentoring support, and actively work on their projects. This year, the business mentors for GCIP Kazakhstan 2024 include prominent Kazakh IT leaders, executives, and innovation experts.

Among them are Talgat Amanbayev, Chief Innovation Officer of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC); Anuar Seifullin, Director of Finance and Investments at Clockster; Kuanysh Dairebekov, Director of the AIFC Innovation Hub; business mentor Yernar Bilyalov; and others.

Throughout the acceleration period, mentors will assist teams in developing their business models, share their experience, and provide feedback. At the end of the acceleration, startups will meet with investors, and the top finalists will receive grants worth 3,000,000 tenge.

Winners will also participate in a global competition held annually in Vienna, where teams from around the world compete. Kazakhstan became the only country to have more than one project reach the final stage.

From July 28 to 31, the National Academy will take place in Astana—a four-day event for startups and mentors, marking the start of GCIP Kazakhstan 2024.

GCIP Kazakhstan is a program promoting innovation in clean technology and entrepreneurship, initiated by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization UNIDO and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and implemented in Kazakhstan by the Non-Commercial Joint Stock Company "International Center for Green Technologies and Investment Projects."

Kazakhstan is one of 16 countries and one of the first in Central Asia where this program is implemented.