"We are holding the conference to put our region on the technological map," say the organizers of Central Asia @ Silicon Valley about the importance of the event.

Aset Abdualiev, co-founder of the Silkroad Innovation Hub project

Asror Arabjanov, co-founder of the Silkroad Innovation Hub project

About the Event

Aset. Central Asia @ Silicon Valley is the first and largest technology conference about our region held outside of it.

The conference will take place for the first time, and we chose Silicon Valley to announce our region on the world stage. The conference will consist of three parts:

— Keynote speeches by the most well-known CEOs, venture capitalists, and founders from Silicon Valley.

— Panel discussions where we will discuss five main topics: the development of artificial intelligence, the venture industry, Women in Tech, the development of EdTech in our region and the US, and ecosystem development.

— A startup exhibition featuring more than 100 startups from our region.

It is important to note that all startups participate at their own expense, without sponsorship. This is an excellent opportunity to showcase our region in Silicon Valley through speeches by renowned speakers and the startups themselves.

The expectations for this conference are to establish our region’s status as the next “forge” of international unicorns. We want to show that the region has huge potential, talented founders, a strong support system, as well as venture investors and funds. All these favorable conditions are created for the emergence of large international startups.

What Will Happen at the Event

Aset. This event is being held for the first time, and similar events have not previously taken place outside the region. Through this event, we want to show that we have reached a new level of development: we no longer have just two or three founders, but hundreds and thousands of founders who are striving not only to build their businesses but also to conquer Silicon Valley. We want to demonstrate that our region has enough smart, talented, and ambitious people creating big stories.

The idea is to make our region well-known. After the conference, we want all participants to be able to say: “Yes, we know you. You are from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, or Mongolia. You had a major conference, there is Silkroad Innovation Hub.” We aim to simplify the path for others and continue to develop.

Renowned speakers will take the stage at the event: Zhasslan Madiev, Minister of Digitalization of Kazakhstan, and the CEO of Coursera, who will talk about projects in our region as well as trends in EdTech.

Nitin Pachisia, founder and partner of Unshackled Ventures, a leading American venture fund that invests in immigrant founders, will also speak. He will share information about the ecosystem that exists here to support founders from other countries.

Our fourth speaker is Arvind Jain, CEO and founder of Glean. This is currently one of the leading AI startups developing AI solutions for large corporations. Arvind himself is an immigrant and will share his journey, how he built such a large corporation, and how he became part of this broader AI development.

And, of course, the fifth speakers will be Ayzada Marat and Asel Tleubayeva, founders of Alma. Alma is one of the fastest-growing startups from our region in Silicon Valley. We are inspired by their story: two girls from Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, who received excellent foreign education and work experience, are currently building a major technology company in the field of artificial intelligence. We strive to inspire girls and women in our region to also become startuppers.

Asror. The startups participating can be divided into two categories. The first category includes startups already operating in the American market, having raised significant investments and maintaining connections with the Central Eurasian region. The second category includes startups from our region that have come to showcase their projects, attract investments, meet potential partners, and offer their products to the American market.

It is important to note that startups that independently pay for their participation in this major conference demonstrate serious interest and high quality. The willingness to incur such significant expenses testifies to their maturity and level of development. All 100 startups participating in the conference are high-quality and well-prepared projects.

Additionally, startups will have the opportunity to participate in the Go Global World pitch, where they can present their projects orally, without presentations. We will announce the winner on the main stage of the Blue Shield of California Theater at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

About the Benefits of the Event

Aset. The event is fully funded through private sources, without the use of state funds. This is a private initiative supported by our partners, Freedom Holding and Silkroad Innovation Hub. At present, we are not sure if we will hold this event regularly, as it requires significant resources and financial costs. Nevertheless, we plan to organize less large-scale local events on a regular basis.

This is a unique opportunity for all founders and The Tech readers to participate in the first major event in San Francisco. We are holding it in a landmark venue—the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, owned by the City of San Francisco. Presentations of products such as the iPhone and iPad have taken place here, and many well-known technology companies hold their meetings at such venues.

Asror. Our first goal is to continue developing interest in the region. We are holding the conference to put our region on the technological map and attract the attention of venture investors and startups to establish partnerships. Last year, we organized a startup alley at TechCrunch Disrupt, where 14 startups from our region participated, and this year there are already 24. Central Asia @ Silicon Valley is our event, where we want to showcase our startups.

For comparison, TechCrunch does not have significantly more startups participating: we organized 100 startups, whereas the largest conferences feature 400–500 companies. This underscores the significant potential of our region.

Our second direction is the launch of the first angel club—Silkroad Angel Club. It will begin its operations a day before the conference. We already have members of the angel club—investors from our region who are ready to invest in fast-growing startups in Silicon Valley. Starting November 1, we will offer deals to our investors. Our task is to attract more investors interested in the angel club.

Aset. The third direction is the creation of the first American venture fund focused on founders from Central Eurasia. Although there are venture funds in the country, none of them are oriented toward talents and founders from our region, including Central Asia, the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia, and Mongolia. The fund will be large, and its goal is to support talented individuals and bring unicorns to the market, as well as companies with billion-dollar and ten-to-hundred-billion-dollar valuations.