The startup competition that crowns one global champion each year is coming to Uzbekistan for the first time. Startup World Cup powered by Silicon Valley’s Pegasus Tech Ventures and organised locally by AI-native product studio Don’tSettle will hold its Uzbekistan regional final on 24 September 2026 at CAEx (Central Asia Expo) in Tashkent, as part of ICT Week Uzbekistan. The winner will travel to the Startup World Cup Grand Finale in San Francisco to pitch for a $1,000,000 investment.
Since 2016, Startup World Cup has held more than 100 regional events across six continents, each feeding a single Grand Finale. The 2025 final drew more than 3,000 attendees and selected its champion from roughly 100 regional winners. Pegasus Tech Ventures, which runs the competition, manages around $2 billion in assets and was an early investor in companies including SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, Airbnb and SoFi. For the first time, the route to that stage runs through Tashkent.
Why Uzbekistan, and why now
Uzbekistan is one of the fastest-growing startup markets in the region. Early-stage funding grew from $0.3 million in 2020 to $69.5 million in 2024, a more than 200-fold increase. The country has 38 million people, around 60% of them under the age of 30, and ranks first in Central Asia for political stability, with direct flights to Tashkent, including from New York. About 26% of local startups are women-led. What has been missing is a direct path to the global stage; that path now exists.
Held at the country’s flagship technology event
Startup World Cup × Tashkent takes place within ICT Week Uzbekistan, the nation’s flagship technology event since 2004, supported by the Ministry of Digital Technologies and organised with IT Park Uzbekistan. The 2026 edition is expected to host 25,000 guests and more than 200 exhibitors from 51 countries across a 15,000 m² floor. Recent editions have hosted technology leaders from Meta, NVIDIA and Microsoft. The Startup World Cup final will be held on the event’s 950-seat, curved-LED main stage.
Voices behind the launch
“We built Startup World Cup to find exceptional founders wherever they are, and we have backed companies such as SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic by betting early on that talent. Bringing the competition to Uzbekistan opens one of the world’s most dynamic young markets to global capital,” said Anis Uzzaman, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Pegasus Tech Ventures.
“My goal is simple: to open a real door from Tashkent to Silicon Valley, and to prove that a world-class startup story can begin in Central Asia. We are not importing a show; we are building a launchpad for our founders to compete, and win, anywhere,” said Tatiana Solodovnikova, Head of Product at Don’tSettle and head of the Uzbekistan mission.
“Hosting Startup World Cup at ICT Week is a milestone for Uzbekistan’s tech ecosystem. We have welcomed the leadership of NVIDIA, Microsoft and Meta to this stage; now an Uzbek founder can step onto it and earn a seat in San Francisco,” said Azamat Karamatov, CEO of IT Park Uzbekistan.
From Tashkent to Silicon Valley
Entry is free, attendance is free, and the programme is in English. The competition is open to incorporated tech startups from pre-seed to Series A, in any vertical and from any country, with the ambition to scale globally. Applications are reviewed by Pegasus Tech Ventures and a regional panel, and 15 finalists will pitch live before an international jury. The regional winner’s flight to the San Francisco Grand Finale is sponsored by IT Park Ventures.
How to apply
Founders can apply free of charge before 31 August 2026, and members of the public can register to attend free. The 15 finalists will be announced on 7 September 2026 and will pitch on 24 September 2026. Applications and registration are open at dontsettle.ai/startup-world-cup.
