Azma Finance — a startup automating accounting for entrepreneurs in Uzbekistan

Alisher Alimov, city — Tashkent, founder of Azma Finance, Instagram, Telegram, Linkedin  

How It All Started

I am the founder of Azma Finance, an automated online accounting service for entrepreneurs. Our mission is to free entrepreneurs from the burden of dealing with taxes and reporting to the tax authorities. By subscribing to our service, they can stop worrying about these aspects: we automatically submit all necessary reports and pay taxes, allowing the entrepreneur to fully focus on their business.

After the ninth grade, I had the opportunity to continue my studies in China, where I enrolled in a local college equivalent. There, I studied the Chinese language and the basics of IT, not in the context of development, but rather in project management. After three years of college, I entered one of the top 20 universities in China—Shenzhen University. However, due to financial difficulties, I had to leave my studies and return to Tashkent.

After returning, I got a job and worked for three years at a large manufacturing company.

Launching the Startup

Over four to five years of entrepreneurship, I launched more than 10 projects in traditional business and startups. About 20% were successful, while the rest did not stand the test of time.

We started each project with a team, facing challenges such as how to register an individual entrepreneur (IE) or a limited liability company (LLC), pay taxes, and submit reports. Once, due to unsubmitted reports, I was even summoned to court, which turned out to be a common problem for small businesses in Uzbekistan.

In 2022–2023, while developing the Moona Media agency with clients like UnionPay, Huawei, and Xiaomi, we encountered international contracts and currency settlements. Our accountant handled such transactions for the first time, and we decided to create an MVP for automating accounting. Market analysis showed that many companies needed such a solution.

On August 1, 2023, we registered an LLC and began operations. Today, we are residents of Cyber Park, which is important for protecting client data. We actively cooperate with the technopark to ensure the security and stability of our product.

The Team

Our team consists of trusted specialists with whom I have worked before. Turnover is minimal, and employees often move between projects, maintaining continuity. During hiring, we first evaluate soft skills and work approach, and then hard skills. Even if hard skills are lacking, we support development because we believe that with the right personal qualities, a person can grow and overcome difficulties.

We value flexibility, adaptability, and proactivity. Our young team reacts quickly, changes hypotheses, and launches projects. Such pace requires a high readiness for change, which is often more difficult for experienced specialists.

Target Audience

We work with micro and small businesses in Uzbekistan: individual entrepreneurs (IE), LLCs without VAT, private enterprises (PE), joint ventures (JV), and family businesses. Among our clients are IT companies, startups, outsourcing services, marketing agencies, beauty businesses, cleaning companies, sellers on marketplaces, and online stores.

Our product is aimed at entrepreneurs using a simplified taxation system, who are ready for innovation and automation instead of complex solutions like 1C. We already serve more than 50 companies, including online retail, IT, and services, as well as international marketing projects. Our clients value simplicity, speed, and convenience, preferring text communication and minimizing complex processes.

Among our clients are also unique ones, for example, a company that advises successful entrepreneurs on how to lose weight without diets.

Incubation Programs

We participated in the second stream of the Plug and Play accelerator program, the most active venture fund in the world by the number of deals.

We won the startup battle at the Fintech & Punking Forum 2024, signing an investment agreement with Aloqa Ventures for $50,000. Then we were invited to the Fintech Summit in Almaty. Soon we will go to San Francisco by invitation from Plug and Play to participate in the Silicon Valley November Winter Summit.

Challenges

One of the biggest challenges we faced was indecisiveness. We hesitated for a long time to launch product sales, striving to bring it to a perfect state. As it turned out, this problem is typical for many: everyone wants to create a perfect product, but perfection is unattainable. At some point, my close friend, who was also working on his own startup, gently said to me: “Stop dragging it out, start selling.” This became a signal for us that it is important to enter the market as early as possible to check audience interest and needs.

As in any business, operational tasks and problems arise every day, requiring prompt solutions. Most difficulties, as we realized, are more related to mental barriers than to real obstacles.

My recommendations for startups at the initial stage of creation:

1. Actively engage in CustDev. Communicate with potential customers to understand their needs and pain points.

2. Create an MVP as quickly as possible. Based on the data obtained, develop an MVP and test it with real customers. Start selling to get honest feedback and understand the level of demand.

3. It is important to work within the legal framework to avoid future problems, for example, in case of financial or legal disputes. This will help avoid unnecessary worries and potential losses.

4. Do not be afraid to start. Doubts are a common phenomenon among startuppers. But the best way to check if a product is in demand is to start selling. Even if it doesn’t work out, an IE can be easily closed without significant consequences. The main thing is to try. The more attempts, the higher the probability of success.

Plans

In the coming year, we plan active development. The Uzbekistan market is estimated at over $3.2 billion, and our target segment is $1.3 billion, with 315,000 entrepreneurs. We already lead in search queries about online accounting and are gradually displacing old players.

Our priorities: improving the product, including integration with Click to simplify accounting for 50,000 businesses, and automating tax reporting for “blue-collar” workers. We also help foreign companies, including Russian and Chinese ones, register businesses and simplify bureaucracy.

We are studying the markets of the Middle East and the US, where our services are in demand, and see potential in Kazakhstan. Despite limited resources, we will grow by expanding directions and supporting clients.

We have room to grow, and although resources are limited, we will act consistently to cover as many directions as possible and develop together with our clients.