byb Capital's First Anniversary: A Year of Strategic Investments and Innovation in Kazakhstan

A year ago, I briefed you about the birth of our new Venture Capital firm, byb Capital. We thought of it as a new Central Asian venture firm aimed at boosting global-level technology startups in Kazakhstan.

The fund, which Aselle Tasmagambetova and myself co-founded under the advise of its General Partner, Askar Bilisbekov, none other than a Stanford Graduate School of Business alumnus, is already making waves with its first initial investments.

Our first investment in uVu, a new player in Kazakhstan's transport sector.

uVu is a young and inventive company that provides efficient and trustworthy ride-sharing services for school students. It applies state-of-the-art technologies to optimize routes for those commuting between school, work and home.

Many more investments will come, thanks to the great work of byb's staff and the commitment of Askar and his team.

At byb, we are always on the lookout for new investments, those where we can support Kazakhstan's network of strategic partners, one that has demonstrated that it can add weight in many areas of the market.

That is why, from the beginning, we decided to incorporate the fund in the AIFC (Astana International Financial Centre), which is our home today - and a global example of things properly done in the finance world. Shoutout to them and their team.

At byb we really look at Venture Capital differently: our strategy includes investing, mentoring, knowledge sharing, and access to a global network with a definite commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles.

We aim to help foster an ecosystem where promising ideas thrive - and we are interested in sectors such as agriculture, logistics, natural resources, and energy security, emphasizing ESG principles in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which we strongly support.

I have been interested in tech companies for many years, and I am proud to say that my country, Kazakhstan, has made important strides in its tech sector. According to the UN, it now ranks 24th among 193 countries in digital transformation.

I am particularly excited by the recent news that Kazakhstan has voiced its intent to enter the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), as announced by my friend, the Minister of Digital Development, Innovations, and Aerospace Industry Zhaslan Madiyev, at the AI Action Summit in Paris.

As I always say, Kazakhstan has enormous potential, savvy professionals, and innovative ideas that I am always interested in. I'm sure more is yet to come, and I encourage our future entrepreneurs to devote their ideas to the "Qazaq Dream."

Here is to the first anniversary of byb and many more to come.