Central Asian startups that attracted investments in August 2026

August proved to be a busy month for the regional venture scene — from a record-breaking round for an AI video platform to a small deal by an Uzbek travel startup. We’ve compiled five deals covered by The Tech, varying in scale and geography but sharing one common denominator: investor interest in Central Asia and the Caucasus.

Higgsfield

Kazakh AI video platform Higgsfield raised $400 million in a new round, bringing the company’s valuation to $5.4 billion. Investors in the deal included DST Global, Goldman Sachs, Liberty Global, Intel, and others.

This is the company’s second major funding round in a year — in December 2025, Higgsfield raised $80 million at a $1.3 billion valuation. Launched in 2025, the company grew its annual revenue from $20 million to $700 million within a year, according to the Financial Times. The platform is used by over 30 million people in 238 countries and territories, with the United States being the largest market. Among clients using Higgsfield for AI marketing is Dollar Shave Club.

The company plans to use the new capital for corporate products, security, and increased computing power.

Nace.AI

Kazakh AI startup Nace.AI, which has offices in Astana and Silicon Valley, secured investment from Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan. He is also the founder and chairman of the venture fund Walden International and has previously served on the boards of Cadence Design Systems and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

According to Nace.AI founder and CEO Dos Bakytzhan, the investor decided to invest after a single conversation. The company develops artificial intelligence that analyzes internal business processes — corporate policies, financial data, documents, contracts, and reporting — to help executives make management decisions in the future.

Nace.AI had previously raised $21.5 million from international investors, and the current deal was closed in less than 36 hours.

Perceptis

AI startup Perceptis secured investment from the Kazakh fund Silkroad Angels and other investors from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The platform automates the preparation of presentations and analytical materials for consulting firms.

Unlike universal AI generators, Perceptis creates ready-to-use working documents with charts and tables that can be edited in Excel and formatted in the client’s brand style. At the same time, data remains within the company’s corporate perimeter.

Alif

FinTech company Alif raised $10 million from Armenian financial group Ineco Group in a deal structured under the mudaraba model — an Islamic partnership model where one party provides capital and the other manages the project, with profits distributed in pre-agreed proportions without a fixed interest rate.

The funds will go toward expanding Alif’s business in Uzbekistan — primarily to grow the Alif Nasiya installment service.

Prestige Club

Uzbek startup Prestige Club raised $150,000 from Yoshlar Ventures. The company develops a B2B platform in the TravelTech sector, providing banks, financial organizations, and FinTech companies with digital infrastructure for travel services and business trip organization.

The solution operates on a white-label model — travel services are embedded directly into banking apps and other digital ecosystems, so users don’t need to leave their familiar app to access travel services. The startup will use the investment to develop the platform and scale in the market.