The Final of the Digital Qazaqstan Battle: Kazakhstan's Top Startups Competed for 19,000,000 Tenge

In Shymkent, at the Digital Qazaqstan 2026 forum, the country's top technology startups presented their solutions to experts, investors, and the entire innovation ecosystem.

For several months, startups from all regions of Kazakhstan competed for the chance to reach the national stage and vie for a prize fund of 19,000,000 tenge. The Digital Qazaqstan Battle final became a platform where the country's 20 best projects demonstrated real, market-validated technological solutions and the potential to scale their products nationally and internationally.

Participants presented startups in the fields of AI, smart cities, business process automation, educational technologies, and other areas of digital transformation. The finalists included the following projects: JolScan, aitomaton, Lady Taxi, SanEduPortal, Kasibi Taxi, LoyaBonus, Okushy, CortexAI, Proji, zhihaz.kz, SmetaHub, gro.now, Reco, AR Sana, Qalam, Ai‑mektep, Mathlab, Help Hand, KenDala, and Numerus.

The final project solutions were evaluated by a jury comprising representatives of the government, investors, and the technology community. The jury included:
— Murat Abdrakhmanov, a Kazakhstani serial entrepreneur and one of the largest business angels in Central Asia
— Renat Tukhanov, Chief Technology Officer of Freedom Holding Corp.
— Narykbi Maksut, international developer
— Dalida Yerkulieva, VP of Talent at Higgsfield AI
— Sultan Ilyasov, representative of the IT community.

After an intense and vibrant final, the jury determined the startups that won the Digital Qazaqstan Battle:

The grand prize of 10,000,000 tenge went to Gro.now, a platform for marketing research and market analytics.

The second place, worth 5,000,000 tenge, was won by Cortex AI, an AI system for clinical decision support that predicts the risk of kidney transplant rejection.

The third place, worth 3,000,000 tenge, went to AR Sana, a health-tech platform for children's speech development that creates a unified gaming ecosystem for parents, children, and speech therapists.

Additionally, the audience chose a startup that received the Audience Choice Award: Qalam AI, a smart pen that remembers everything: you write on paper, AI recognizes the text, analyzes it, and organizes the notes in a mobile app.

Ainur Nuraldil, CEO of AR Sana
Reaching the final was an incredible opportunity to test our concept with a national audience and receive feedback from experts. We hope our project will make a significant impact on industry development and help find new partners for scaling.

The competition was held in several stages: after receiving applications, projects were checked for compliance with participation requirements, followed by regional semifinals, from which the finalists were selected. The jury evaluated startups based on market dynamics, team quality, scalability, and investment attractiveness.

Organizers emphasize that Digital Qazaqstan Battle is not only an opportunity to receive financial support. Finalists gained access to a wide forum audience, attention from investors and technology ecosystem representatives, and the chance to solidify their projects' positions on the national innovation stage.

Asimbek Abilgazinov, Director of the Business Programs Office at Astana Hub
Digital Qazaqstan Battle demonstrates that strong technology projects are born not only in major cities but also in the regions. The final became a true platform for exchanging experience, establishing contacts with investors and international experts, and confirming the high competence of participants.

This year, the organization of the international digital forum Digital Qazaqstan 2026 was made possible thanks to the support of partners and sponsors. All expenses are covered by sponsorship funds.

Forum partners:
— General partner: Freedom Bank, a digital bank that was the first in Kazakhstan to digitize mortgages, auto and business loans, and issued the country's first investor card, INVEST CARD
— Platinum partner: Alageum Electric, a large electrical engineering group of companies
— Gold partner: Kazakhtelecom
— Innovation partners: WSE and Damumed
— Partner: Visa.

The forum was organized by the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Shymkent City Akimat, and the international innovation cluster Astana Hub.