The community of women founders from Central Asia: Sisters — Female Founders Initiative

Assel Seitova, City — Palo Alto, CEO, LinkedIn

About Me

I graduated from KIMEP University in 1999, later participated in the Bolashak program, and in 2007 earned a Master’s degree in Finance in the United States. I also hold the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

My professional experience spans over 20 years and includes work at the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, second-tier banks, PricewaterhouseCoopers, as well as involvement in M&A transactions, Financial Advisory Services, and international projects.

I currently live in Palo Alto, in the heart of Silicon Valley. After relocating from Southern California this summer, I actively engaged with the local startup ecosystem and decided to create a community for women. Meeting female founders from Central Asia who are growing their businesses in the U.S., I noticed that many of them were not connected with one another, and I decided to bring these talented entrepreneurs together.

About the Community

The startup ecosystem remains predominantly male, especially in the high-tech sector. Despite declared equal opportunities, there are few female founders. In such conditions, support and knowledge sharing are particularly important—this became the foundation for creating our community.

Female founders live across America, but in such a large country, it is difficult to build connections: people often do not have time to meet and may not even know each other. By studying their projects, I decided to unite these entrepreneurs by finding them through LinkedIn and personal recommendations.

There are many women’s tech communities worldwide—Women in Tech, TechnoWomen, Women Tech Network, and others. We chose a niche focused on female founders and co-founders of IT startups. This is a small but rapidly growing group. The world is experiencing a startup boom, the region is actively developing its ecosystem, and support for female founders is especially important right now.

Women-led startups often have their own specifics. In the U.S., many women-led projects focus on FemTech—health, childhood, and family values. By investing in startups, we effectively determine which problems will be solved in the future. Women-led projects create spaces where women’s interests are considered. Until recently, before 1990, women were excluded from clinical trials, and only new initiatives are raising topics related to health, menopause, fertility, and other important issues.

This summer I launched the community to unite female founders from Central Asia and showcase their projects to the region, demonstrating real achievements. I named the community Sisters—because I grew up among sisters and understand the value of women’s support.

In our community, support is also expressed through professional exchange—mentors and participants help each other develop their projects.

The goal of the community is mutual support and knowledge sharing, as well as introducing Central Asia to female founders from the region working in the U.S., and establishing connections between experienced founders and newcomers.

Events for Community Members

We launched a series of live streams with female founders from Silicon Valley, who will share their experience and answer audience questions. We also plan online workshops with participation from founders from Central Asia and the U.S.—their knowledge will be valuable to our audience. The goal is to support community development and provide access to mentors, speakers, and educational events.

Additionally, we focus on fundraising, building connections with venture capital firms, and preparing pitch decks. We are currently discussing the possibility of holding an online startup pitch event jointly with Silkroad Innovation Hub, so that founders from our region can present their projects to experts and investors from Silicon Valley, which is especially important for those who cannot travel in person. We also hold offline events in the Valley, for example, we have started hosting monthly breakfasts for female founders supported by Silkroad Innovation Hub with large communities such as WomenTech Meetup, panel discussions, and more.

Among the major initiatives is the organization of a women’s accelerator for Central Asian founders, with an offline component in Silicon Valley. At the moment, the process is in the stage of discussing cooperation with partners and sponsors.

How the Community Helps with Development

I am undergoing training at VC Lab, the largest accelerator for venture capital funds in the world, which is part of the Decile Group. The founder of Decile Group is also a co-founder of Founder Institute, one of the most well-known accelerators for startups, and is developing a program for LPs—investors in venture funds. This accelerator forms a complete ecosystem and is based in Palo Alto. Four times a year, a cohort of 3,000 people is launched, and only the top 10% are selected, which is reflected in the name Decile Group.

Currently, I am completing a four-month training program with the goal of launching my own venture fund. The fund will be closed in rounds, starting with the first, after which investments will be made. Thus, a platform is created to support startups and investors, ensuring a comprehensive ecosystem for the growth and development of high-tech projects.

The accelerator we collaborate with allows for rapid fund launches, providing a platform, back-office support, network access, an investment committee, and other resources. For a first fund in the U.S., this is extremely convenient and ensures an effective start. With the fund, we plan to further support startups, including through direct investments.

Moreover, we do not limit ourselves only to founders from Central Asia. Women’s communities from Europe are reaching out to us, and joint projects are planned. Overall, the goal is knowledge exchange and network expansion. We collaborate with American women’s communities, Russian-speaking organizations, and female immigrant communities.

Successful Projects

Within the community, we share stories of successful participants. On Instagram and LinkedIn pages, there is a Sisters Spotlight section where information about one participant and her success story is regularly published.

For example, Zhanal Nugmanova is a young and talented participant. She graduated from Dartmouth College in the U.S., then conducted research at Harvard University, and her startup Valinor has already attracted $13 million from American venture funds. Zhanal relocated from Utah to San Francisco this summer and received invitations to present her project at various events. Her company, Valinor Discovery, conducts preclinical research for pharmaceutical companies.

Assel Tursun is the co-founder and CEO of ARC Aero, a company creating next-generation autonomous infrastructure. Their drones are already working with U.S. security departments and government agencies, redefining how cities respond to emergencies and logistics. Assel often becomes the only female founder at the negotiation table at the level of government agencies and large corporations, demonstrating the ability to execute and scale, and the ambition to build the next autonomous infrastructure unicorn.

Dara Tumenbaeva is the founder of Black Swan—a startup at the intersection of neurotechnology, drones, and esports. Originally from Kazakhstan, she is now building in Silicon Valley an operating system for the world of neurointerfaces, where the brain becomes the main controller and drones become an extension of human will. Her project Black Swan is simultaneously mind-controlled eSports, infrastructure for BCI developers, and a platform for experiments at the intersection of technology, art, and security.

These projects demonstrate how talented and ambitious our participants are, and what real impact their work has in the high-tech sector. These projects were presented at a meeting with the President of Kazakhstan during his visit to the U.S.

Community members exchange contacts and news, attend events together—we support each other, inspire each other, and develop the concept of lift up, empower. In America, as a country of immigrants, it is important to find your tribe, and our community helps female founders find such support.

Plans

The main goal for next year is to launch the fund and also organize a women’s accelerator for Central Asian founders. The accelerator will complement online workshops and events. The main goal is to help female founders and increase their chances of success.

In the future, we plan to collaborate with other women’s communities around the world. The goal is knowledge, contact, and experience exchange, useful for startups in different markets, as well as creating a platform for support and joint development.