The winners of the Road to TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 2026 have been announced: Cerberus, WeGlobal AI, and LOOQ will represent Central Eurasia at the event in San Francisco.

On August 12, 2026, at 18:00, the Regional Final of the Road to TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 2026 took place—the decisive stage of the largest startup competition in Central Eurasia. Twenty-two startups, selected through national rounds, participated in the final, and their projects were evaluated by an international jury.

The jury included representatives from TechCrunch, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Silkroad Angels, Glid, OpenAI, Astana Hub Ventures, and IT Park Ventures. An independent AI jury, AI-Dana, also participated in evaluating the projects.

Top 10 finalists of the regional final

1. Cerberus, Uzbekistan
2. WeGlobal AI, Kazakhstan
3. LOOQ, Japan
4. Suriy, Mongolia
5. Telagri, Georgia
6. SeaDar, Azerbaijan
7. Kaptin Kaptin, Turkey
8. Admyra, USA
9. MVSxAI, Oman
10. Soup, Kazakhstan.

The top three startups—Cerberus, WeGlobal AI, and LOOQ—will represent Central Eurasia at TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200 in San Francisco from October 13–15, 2026.

The winners will receive an investment prize fund of $100,000: $50,000 for first place, $30,000 for second place, and $20,000 for third place, provided by Astana Hub Ventures, IT Park Ventures, and Silkroad Innovation Hub, as well as OpenAI API credits of equivalent amounts—$50,000, $30,000, and $20,000, respectively. Additionally, the top three winners will earn a spot on the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200 stage, an exhibition booth at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 for all three days of the event, and a fully sponsored trip to San Francisco for two team members to attend TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200, including flights and accommodation for up to one week.

The remaining 19 finalists in the top 22 also received awards: each will receive $10,000 in OpenAI API credits.

The organizers express sincere gratitude to the main sponsor of the competition—Freedom Holding Corp, TechCrunch, Astana Hub, Astana Hub Ventures, IT Park Uzbekistan, IT Park Ventures, OpenAI, The Tech, and Silkroad Innovation Hub.

Special thanks to the regional partners who supported the competition: Accelerate Prosperity, Activat VC, Ardventure, Bilkent Cyberpark, Bilişim Vadisi, Caucasus Ventures, CEVF, Doha Business Consulting, Future Laboratory, Future Unicorns, Global Tech Weekend Tbilisi, Hello Tomorrow Türkiye, IT Park Dushanbe, IT Park Mongolia, Khan Tengri Innovation Hub, MOST, Nazarbayev University, SABAH Angels, SABAH Fund, Silkroad Angels, Sofia Tech Park, Startup Moldova, Stanbase, StartupCentrum, and Terricon Valley.

Road to TechCrunch Startup Battlefield is the largest startup competition in Central Eurasia and the official regional pathway to the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield stage in San Francisco. The competition has been held for the second consecutive year by Silkroad Innovation Hub. More details are available at road2battlefield.com.