20M+
People using Uzum platforms — over half the country
SWC · Tashkent 2026 — Partner Award
The Uzum Global Scale Award.
Presented by Uzum
Uzum's own award, presented on stage at Pitch Day — for the startup with exceptional potential to build and scale a technology product in Uzbekistan, Central Asia and other emerging markets. Not a cheque: access, mentorship and a pilot track inside the ecosystem more than half the country already uses.
Award
Access, mentorship & pilot track
Presented
On stage, Pitch Day · 24 Sep
Selection
Chosen by Uzum
Recipients
One awardee + up to three Fast Track teams
The award
One startup. The whole ecosystem opens.
Most partner awards hand a finalist a service. This one hands them a counterpart: the teams running Uzbekistan's largest marketplace, digital bank, express delivery and SME platform — with the meetings fast-tracked and a pilot on the table.
Uzum · Global Scale AwardSWC Tashkent 2026
Presented on stage · Uzum's own award
Ecosystem access.
For one finalist with exceptional potential to build and scale a technology product in Uzbekistan, Central Asia and other emerging markets.
Startup
World Cup
Tashkent 2026
World Cup
Tashkent 2026
SWC26·UZM·001
A fast-tracked team meetingAn accelerated session with the most relevant Uzum business or product team — commerce, fintech, delivery or SME
Leadership mentorshipMentorship or a strategy session with a senior Uzum leader or the relevant functional lead
A pilot & commercial trackA potential corporate pilot or commercial evaluation inside the Uzum ecosystem
Presented on stage at Pitch Day by a representative of Uzum. The recipient is selected by Uzum from the Startup World Cup Tashkent 2026 finalists; selection criteria are agreed with the organiser before Pitch Day.
The Uzum Global Scale Award is Uzum's own award. It is not a Startup World Cup prize, is selected independently of the jury's scoring, and implies no investment, procurement or pilot obligation. Award visual is illustrative.
Uzum Startup Fast Track
And after the stage — up to three more doors open.
The Global Scale Award goes to one startup. The Fast Track reaches further: Uzum reviews every finalist and takes the conversations it wants to continue.
01
Selected after the stage
Within five business days of Pitch Day, Uzum selects up to three finalists relevant to its business — AI, fintech, commerce or the SME ecosystem.
02
A private follow-up
Each selected team gets a private meeting with the relevant Uzum business or product representative. The introduction is made by the organiser, with the founders' consent.
03
The accelerated review
At Uzum's discretion, one or more teams proceed to an accelerated corporate innovation review — a pilot, commercial partnership, integration, or mentorship.
Fast Track selections are announced after Pitch Day and imply no investment, procurement or pilot obligation.
The partner
Explore Uzum The ecosystem more than half the country already uses.
→
Uzum is Uzbekistan's national digital ecosystem — e-commerce, fintech and banking built as one platform. Founded in Tashkent in 2022, it became the country's first technology unicorn in 2024, and its services are used by more than 20 million people — over half of Uzbekistan's population.
The rails run everywhere a startup wants to be: Uzum Market, the country's largest marketplace with one-day delivery to 160+ settlements; Uzum Bank; Uzum Tezkor express delivery; Uzum Nasiya, the largest instalment service; and Uzum Business, serving 100,000+ SMEs.
In March 2026, Uzum closed a strategic investment exceeding $130 million anchored by sovereign entities of the Sultanate of Oman, with Tencent, VR Capital and FinSight Ventures participating — at a $2.3 billion valuation, on $176 million of 2025 net profit. That is the scale of the partner opening its doors here.
Uzum · at a glance
$2.3B
Valuation after the March 2026 round
1st
Uzbekistan's first tech unicorn, 2024
$176M
Net profit, 2025
The partner behind the access
The award is access. This is what it opens.
Why an access-based award from this partner outweighs most cheques a startup wins at an event.
01
A national champion, globally backed
Uzbekistan's first tech unicorn (2024), valued at $2.3 billion after a March 2026 round anchored by sovereign entities of the Sultanate of Oman, with Tencent, VR Capital and FinSight Ventures participating — and named in CNBC and Statista's World's Top Fintech Companies 2026.
02
Rails, not promises
Access here means the teams running the country's largest marketplace, a leading digital bank, express delivery, the largest instalment service, and an SME platform serving 100,000+ businesses — distribution and fintech rails a startup can actually pilot on.
03
A repeat backer of the ecosystem
Main sponsor of the Second National AI Hackathon in Samarkand, co-organising the International Informatics Olympiad with the Ministry of Digital Technologies, and a resident of IT Park Uzbekistan. Backing founders is a pattern, not a one-off.
Figures per Uzum's published releases and independent coverage, March–June 2026.
Startup World Cup · Tashkent 2026
Pitch Day. 24 September, CAEx Tashkent.
Within ICT Week Uzbekistan.