Yalla is a startup that searches for scarce medications in Tajikistan and abroad.

Aziz Nasyrov, city — Dushanbe, CEO, product manager Yalla, @aziznasyrov.10

How it all began

I graduated from school in Tajikistan. Since my school days, I have been involved in various developments and projects at the school level, participating in olympiads and forums. In the 11th grade, I completed an intensive business course. This is how I entered the world of entrepreneurship. After completing the program, I enrolled in Almaty Management University, studying business administration in the field of entrepreneurship. I studied there for a year, then transferred to Latvia.

During the summer holidays of 2021, I returned home. During this period, my team and I resumed work on the Yalla project, which we had started in 2019 as part of a business constructor. We saw that the food delivery market was saturated, and the e-commerce market already had major players. We chose another niche and set a goal: to connect 11 pharmacies and create product cards for 3,000–4,000 items. In August 2021, we officially registered Yalla and began its development. The technical aspects of the project are overseen by our co-founder, Firuz Jonmama'dov. After creating a prototype and conducting test sales, in March 2022, we received investment from a business angel, updated our office equipment, and purchased vehicles for delivery.

We began automating processes, searching for new partners, and attracting specialists, including well-known marketer Sherali Dzhurabaev. Over two years of work, we achieved good results; we are now developing our own CRM system and warehouse infrastructure.

The official launch of the Yalla project took place on July 4, 2022.

Our business model involves working with sellers, but automating the accounting process and ensuring inventory accuracy proved difficult due to differences in delivery systems. Currently, we are transitioning to a fulfillment model with our own warehouse to optimize operations. We have two years of experience and a customer base of 10,000 people. We are confident in the demand and plan to scale up with one large warehouse to serve the city, improving inventory management and delivery.

Team

Our team consists of people I have known since school. We participated in olympiads and forums and decided to start a joint project during the holidays. Initially, there were five or six of us, but over time we split up. One participant continued his studies in Russia, while I interrupted my studies in Kazakhstan, transferred to Tajikistan, and focused on product development. I chose to stay here to apply theory in practice. I completed my studies this year. Our team continues to grow and develop.

When we started, we were around 21 years old and had limited experience in launching startups and marketing. After creating the MVP, we participated in the PEAK accelerator program by the British Embassy in Tajikistan, which later closed but continues to operate in Kyrgyzstan.

At that time, we invited Sherali Dzhurabaev, who conducted marketing training for us and became our marketer after we secured investment. He noticed that there are many pharmacies in Tajikistan, and we were just another one, only with a website. However, we stood out due to our unique skills in sourcing scarce medications, both domestically and abroad. Therefore, we focused on convenience and accessibility, and the slogan “Yalla, we will find any medicine” became our competitive advantage.

Target Audience

Our target audience consists of people who work and do not have free time or a car, as well as those who have elderly parents or young children.

Scarce medications are often needed by people whose relatives suffer from acute illnesses. These specific drugs are brought in only by pre-order and are expensive, so regular pharmacies cannot stock them due to low demand. Finding such medicines was difficult; many people turned to acquaintances in the pharmaceutical or medical fields for help. This process was lengthy, required time, and relied on personal connections.

Today, everything is simpler—users can submit a request on our website, and we find the necessary medicine through our partners, both within the country and abroad. This process significantly speeds up delivery and makes it more convenient for customers. The website has a button for sending photo prescriptions and requests for scarce medications.

Despite the limited availability of scarce medications, they generate high revenue. Analysis shows that these items account for only 30% of all orders but bring in 50–60% of total revenue. Although the number of such orders is small, their cost is significantly higher than the average check.

Incubation Programs

In 2019, we started with the Business Constructor, becoming the first graduates of this program. We developed the idea, packaged it, and moved forward. After that, there was a short pause related to our academic commitments abroad. In 2021, we actively engaged in acceleration and incubation programs: PEAK, Grow Your Business 2. During this time, we also participated in the pre-acceleration project from PEAK and MOST Ventures.

We continue to develop our projects and participate in various initiatives, such as Accelerate Prosperity and IT Cup, in which we took part in 2023. That same year, we completed the Bootcamp for A Hub Accelerator, the final of which took place recently. The ISSCO project aims to support startups and develop the ecosystem through the A Hub Accelerator program, organized in partnership with the state business incubator that oversees national pitches in Tajikistan. Our project became one of the top 3 invited to the final in Azerbaijan, which took place from June 1–5. We presented our project, although we did not win a prize in the final.

In 2024, we applied to participate in the Star Ventures program by the EBRD. We made the shortlist of projects and passed the presentation stage.

Challenges

One of our challenges was insufficient expertise in launching and developing projects. Although we knew what an MVP was, we did not realize that there were faster ways to test ideas. For example, instead of building a website from scratch, one could use ready-made platforms and constructors. We spent two months writing code until we learned from a programmer acquaintance that we could have used WordPress or Shopify to create a website in a few weeks. As a result, we lost a lot of time.

Another challenge was automating interaction with sellers. In Tajikistan, many businesses still keep records on paper and do not have automated systems. We faced the problem of outdated data: items listed as in stock were actually not current, as some had been on the list since 2015. We had to manually update the information, photograph the items, and enter their descriptions and attributes.

Achievements

Our project is well-known in Tajikistan. In a short time, we managed to build our brand.

Currently, we are launching a second project. The new service is related to office food delivery and e-commerce in the B2B segment. The experience gained while working on Yalla significantly accelerated our progress.

We also developed our own CRM system, as ready-made solutions like Bitrix did not suit our specific business needs.

Plans

By the end of this year, we plan to transition to fulfillment. First, we want to work with our own warehouse for about a year, and then move to a pharmaceutical marketplace.

We intend to open a funding round to attract new investments for scaling. We will update our websites, improve our services, and launch a mobile application.

We are adding new mini-services, such as home laboratory visits, private ambulance services, and online doctor consultations. The laboratory can already be ordered through the website, and we plan to launch the ambulance service in September.

Soon, we will launch a new service—Yalla Lunch, an automated comprehensive meal delivery system for offices and companies.