The regional stage of Startup World Cup 2026 will take place in Astana.

The Kazakh stage of the world's largest startup championship, Startup World Cup, will take place at Nazarbayev University. The region's strongest technological projects will converge on one stage to compete for a ticket to San Francisco and the chance to receive $1,000,000 in investments at the global finals.

The event will become a key information hook for the end of summer for media outlets covering technology, venture capital, the economy, and the IT sector of Kazakhstan. The organizer of the regional stage is the Foundation for Sustainable Innovations and Technologies, supported by NU Impact Foundation and NU Science & Technology Park, which are part of the Nazarbayev University innovation ecosystem.

The winner of the regional stage will represent Kazakhstan at the global Startup World Cup finals in Silicon Valley. Ten startups operating in the fields of AI, SportTech, EdTech, and DeepTech will compete for a spot in the finals: Mirai Tech, Lumia AI, WeGlobal AI, BEST Vision, qTwin, Extella AI, gro.now, NCSpeech, SOTA Sport, and Modul.

The projects will be evaluated by a jury consisting of representatives from venture funds, technology companies, and industry experts.

Startup World Cup is not just a competition, but a social and economic elevator for Kazakhstani entrepreneurs. On August 29, we will show which technologies and solutions from our country are ready to compete in the global market.

Composition of the jury for the regional stage:
— Yerbol Kapishchev — CEO, JAS Ventures
— Alibek Sultangazin — CIO, Bglobal Investments
— Aslan Sultanov — founder and managing partner, White Hill Capital
— Bolat Bashayev — CEO, Axiom Capital
— representative of the Pegasus Tech Ventures venture fund.

When: August 29, 2026
Where: Astana, 53 Kabanbay Batyr Avenue, Nazarbayev University