Kazakhstani startup Soda received 1 million tenge in investments

On October 31, the Terricon Connect forum took place in Karaganda, bringing together dozens of technology teams and business angels from Central Asia. The grand prize for the startup battle was 1,000,000 tenge.

The forum organizers, the Terricon Valley startup ecosystem, created a platform for entrepreneurs, startup founders, and IT specialists to exchange experience and gain opportunities for scaling. The forum program included a startup exhibition and a startup battle.

Sabir Niyazov, CEO of Terricon Valley
We strive to show that Karaganda has not only strong IT specialists but also teams ready to create competitive products. It is important for us that such events become a springboard for those just beginning their entrepreneurial journey.

The expert jury included leading representatives of the Central Asian venture industry: Murat Abdrakhmanov, venture investor and founder of MA7 Ventures; Bakht Niyazov, investor and expert in startup valuation; Yelzhan Kusekbayev, managing partner of MOST Ventures; Mirat Akhmetsadik, CEO of MOST Holding; Bolat Bashayev, CEO of Axiom Capital; and Talgat Bakushev, Head of Projects at Activation HUB.

Thirty teams with projects in the fields of digital solutions for business, education, AI, and FinTech participated in the battle. Five teams advanced to the final, competing for the grand prize.

The winners were the team behind the Soda project, which develops a SaaS service for e-commerce and logistics companies. The service automates the process of data cleaning and preparation.

Three finalists received certificates worth 600,000 tenge from Servercore for using cloud resources. Among them were: Discons — a digital ecosystem for industry featuring CRM, a marketplace, and AI tools; SmetaHub — an AI application for calculating and controlling apartment renovations; and AI Companion — a platform for psycho-emotional diagnostics of employees.

The forum also included panel discussions on artificial intelligence and innovation development, a "Neconference" with presentations by IT and business experts, and a closed meeting for startup founders and investors called Terricon V-Night, where prospects for cooperation and investment ideas were discussed.