Silkroad Innovation Hub’s Road to Battlefield competition continues

The Road to Battlefield competition, organized by Silkroad Innovation Hub in partnership with TechCrunch, Freedom Holding, Astana Hub, IT Park Uzbekistan, is now in its second year. Its purpose hasn’t changed since it launched: Give founders across Central Eurasia a direct route to TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200 during this year’s Disrupt from October 13 – 15 in San Francisco.

“For two years now, together with our partners, we’ve been organizing Road to TC Startup Battlefield to give founders in our region a direct line to the top VCs and global ecosystems, one they didn’t have before at this scale,” said Asset Abdualiyev, founder and CEO of Silkroad Innovation Hub. “There’s a lot of talent here the world hasn’t found yet, and that’s exactly who we’re looking for, founders and ideas from every corner of the region who haven’t had their moment.”

The program’s first year, 2025, drew 485 applications from 27 countries, the largest startup pitch event the region had seen at the time. Three startups came out of it to represent Central Eurasia on the global stage: Polygraf AI (Azerbaijan/U.S.), Surfaice (Kazakhstan/U.S.), and Investbanq (Singapore/U.S.).

This year, applications jumped to 726 from 39 countries, which is up nearly 50% in submissions and a dozen more countries than last year. This is a record for the program, spanning Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and South Asia. Founders pitched online in front of 47 judges from eight countries, drawn from top VC firms, major tech hubs, and founders who’ve scaled their own companies, alongside an AI judge, AI-Dana, as independent jury.

What makes the competition worth watching now, in its second year, is its trajectory. Central Eurasia is now producing one of the fastest-growing startup pipelines in emerging markets, and the numbers back it up.

National rounds for Road to Battlefield 2026 ran online from July 6 to 20. Twenty-two startups came out of it, and they’ll now head to a regional final on August 12. From there, judges will narrow the field to three finalists who’ll represent the region at TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200.

Meet the Road to Battlefield finalists

Those 22 finalists are MoliyAI (Uzbekistan), Sino AI (Uzbekistan), Deepen (Uzbekistan), Fermopolis (Uzbekistan), Oqim App (Uzbekistan), Cerberus (Uzbekistan), Soup (Kazakhstan), CortexAI (Kazakhstan), Scano (Kazakhstan), 4sell.ai (Kazakhstan), WeGlobal AI (Kazakhstan), ZhanCare.AI (Kazakhstan), Kaptın Kaptın (Türkiye), Pocket eSIM (Türkiye), SeaDar (Azerbaijan), Telagri (Georgia), Admyra (U.S.), Soulward (Kyrgyzstan), Suriy (Mongolia), MVSxAI (Qatar), Looq (Japan), and Defensive Pedal (Romania).

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan each have six startups in the regional final, a clear sign that these two now stand as the region’s largest startup ecosystems.

“We’re seeing steady growth in AI products, especially from Kazakhstan and Central Eurasia, and that tracks exactly with our vision,” said Magzhan Madiyev, CEO of Astana Hub. “This progress reflects the strengthening of our innovation ecosystem and the tremendous work being done across it. At Astana Hub, our mission is to nurture the next generation of globally competitive founders ready to scale into markets like the U.S., and it’s inspiring to see many of them take the stage, compete internationally, and move one step closer to the world’s leading startup stage.”

In fact, AI dominates the applicant pool: 609 of the 726 startups, roughly 84%, are building AI products, underscoring how quickly the technology has become the default starting point for founders in the region.

“For founders from Uzbekistan and across Central Eurasia, entering international markets is becoming part of their strategy from the very beginning, as more startups build products with the potential to compete and scale globally,” said Azamat Karamatov, CEO of IT Park Uzbekistan. “This reflects the region’s shift toward a more connected and competitive innovation ecosystem. For IT Park Uzbekistan, the priority is to strengthen the pathways that connect high potential startups with international investors, customers, expertise, and leading technology ecosystems. Road to TechCrunch Startup Battlefield contributes to this effort by giving founders from our region the opportunity to participate in TechCrunch Disrupt and the Startup Battlefield stage in the U.S., gain global exposure, build valuable international connections, and engage directly with one of the world’s leading technology markets.”

The competition’s youngest applicant is just 14, and 89 of the 726 applicants, including seven founders from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, are under 18. Most applicants are early stage, too: 41.6% at MVP and 38.6% pre-seed, with 14.7% at seed and 4.7% still at the idea stage.

Behind the competition is a wide network of regional partners, supported by leading regional innovation hubs and accelerators across Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, China, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Qatar, Tajikistan, Türkiye, and Uzbekistan: 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, with regional media support from TheTech.

This year brought some new stakes to the table, too:

• An $100,000 investment prize pool, split $50,000, $30,000, and $20,000 across the top three finalists, is being funded jointly by Astana Hub Ventures, IT Park Ventures, and Silkroad Innovation Hub.
• The top three winners will get up to $100,000 in OpenAI API credits split the same way, while the rest of the Top 22 finalists will each walk away with $10,000 in OpenAI API credits.

“We’ve been supporting the ecosystem from the very beginning, and this year is no exception,” said Marlen Sikhayev, adviser to the president of Freedom Holding Corp. “What stands out most is how much of it is being driven by AI, solutions built right here in Kazakhstan and across our region that are no longer staying local. They’re being shown to the world, on the same stage as the biggest names in tech. That’s exactly what we set out to support when we backed this initiative, and it’s exactly what keeps us backing it.”

The three eventual winners will also get a fully paid trip and accommodation to TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200 in San Francisco, along with access to a network of more than 1,000 founders spanning 39 countries.

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Reporting from TechCrunch contributed to this story.