Silkway Accelerator Comes to Almaty for the First Time — Applications Open for Regional Startups Ready for Global Growth

The international innovation cluster Astana Hub, together with Google for Startups and the Almaty city administration, has announced the opening of applications for the seventh cohort of the Silkway Accelerator — the flagship intensive growth programme for technology startups at the Product-Market Fit and Scale stages.

Teams from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Mongolia are invited to apply. Applications are open until 30 April on the astanahub.com platform.

Kazakhstan is the first and only country in Central Asia to run an acceleration programme in partnership with Google for Startups. This year, the programme will take place in Almaty for the first time, hosted at Almaty Hub. The relocation of the accelerator to the southern capital reflects the city's role as one of the country's main business centres, with an active entrepreneurial environment and a growing IT community, while also expanding the geographic reach of the ecosystem.

Silkway Accelerator has already established itself as one of the key instruments for scaling startups in the region. Over four years of operation, 1,470 applications have been received. Of these, only 73 startups were selected and completed the acceleration. Programme graduates have collectively raised more than $48 million in investment, and their combined valuation has exceeded $500 million. Their scaling geography has encompassed the markets of the UAE, Turkey, the United States, and other countries. Graduates continue to demonstrate steady growth and successful international market entry. Among them are zypl.ai, Arlan Biotech, NB Fit, UvU, ApartX, Biometric Vision, TrustMe, Mirai Tech, Grand Mobile, Alaqan, and others.

"Silkway Accelerator taught us to focus on priorities and target markets, and to conduct a deeper and more effective analysis of markets in other countries. Through this experience, Biometric.Vision was able to further accelerate its growth, strengthen the team, and refine its product strategy more precisely. Silkway Accelerator is a genuinely strong international community, and it is great that Kazakhstani startups have the opportunity to be part of it. We are now firmly established in the Kazakhstani market, working with the markets of Kyrgyzstan and Malaysia, and running pilots in Mexico, Azerbaijan, Singapore, and the UAE - and this is just the beginning. Silkway Accelerator gave powerful momentum to this process and became one of the key drivers of our growth. I believe it is one of the most valuable accelerators we have been through," said Alibek Narimbay, programme alumnus and CEO and Founder of Biometric.Vision.

The programme runs for 12 weeks and is designed for teams with a ready product who are targeting the growth of key metrics, entry into new markets, and business scaling.

Participants receive comprehensive support: free accommodation and office space in Almaty for out-of-town and international teams, access to Google Cloud resources worth up to $100,000 and Google Workspace services, and the guidance of a dedicated development manager. Throughout the programme, teams work with experts who help improve the product and accelerate growth.

"Kazakhstan is one of the few markets in the region where the startup ecosystem has been developing systematically for several years: the infrastructure is in place, acceleration programmes are running, and there is access to funding and international initiatives. Today, the key challenge is not creating new tools but improving the quality of startups and teams' ability to scale. In our experience, the main deficit is not ideas or access to resources, but the ability to navigate the go-to-market stage and build scalable models. Silkway Accelerator works precisely at this stage — when a startup already has a product but the central task becomes growth," noted Silkway Accelerator programme lead Evgeny Frolov.

The acceleration concludes with a Demo Day, where finalists present their solutions to a targeted investor audience — venture funds, business angels, and strategic partners. The most promising startups enter the Astana Hub Ventures shortlist with the opportunity to attract investment.

Full details and applications: Silkway Accelerator 2026.

Background: Google for Startups is an international entrepreneur support programme launched by Google in 2011. It unites more than 50 partner hubs, co-working spaces, and accelerators in 125 countries and provides practical tools for startup development. Astana Hub is the largest international innovation cluster of IT startups in Central Eurasia. More than 2,000 IT companies are registered in the ecosystem, including approximately 500 with foreign participation. Almaty Hub is the Astana Hub branch in Almaty. It supports the development of the IT community, startups, and the entrepreneurial environment, and provides access to the programmes, knowledge, and resources of the Astana Hub ecosystem.