Uzbekistan’s tech scene has taken a major step onto the global stage as homegrown unicorn Uzum closed a $65.5 million equity funding round. The investment was co-led by China’s Tencent and the New York- and London-based VR Capital, with participation from US-based FinSight Ventures. This latest deal boosts Uzum’s post-money valuation to around $1.5 billion, a 30% jump from the $1.16 billion figure announced when it hit unicorn status last year.
For Tencent, the decision to join Uzum’s cap table followed several quarters of talks. Nikolay Seleznev, Uzum’s Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer, said the company’s strong growth metrics ultimately convinced the Chinese giant to back the business. The funding marks a rare meeting point for Eastern and Western capital in Central Asia, a region increasingly attracting cross-border tech investment.
Eyeing Series B and an IPO
The new capital sets the stage for Uzum’s next big fundraising milestone. The company plans a Series B round of $250–$300 million in the first half of 2026. Longer term, it aims to go public, leveraging its profitability and multi-vertical reach across e-commerce, fintech, and digital banking. So far, Uzum has raised $137 million in equity, including this latest round.
Expansion plans for the coming months include launching a deposit product in September, introducing a long-term credit facility for consumers, and expanding its Visa debit card program. The company also intends to roll out a QR code payment system for merchants, develop new SME-focused products, and open its marketplace to international sellers from China and Turkey.
From e-commerce to fintech leader
Founded in 2022, Uzum began as an e-commerce marketplace called Uzum Market before quickly expanding into fintech and food delivery. Today, it serves more than 17 million monthly active users, almost half of Uzbekistan’s adult population, and supports over 16,000 merchants. In the first half of 2025 alone, the platform recorded $250 million in gross merchandise value (GMV), a 1.5x year-on-year rise.
Its financial arm, Uzum Bank, launched a co-branded Visa debit card with pre-approved credit limits in August 2024. The card has already reached 2 million issuances and is on track to exceed 5 million by year-end. Lending volumes have surged as well, hitting $200 million in Q1 2025, 3.4x higher than the same quarter in 2024. This growth helped push the company’s 2024 net income to $150 million, a 50% jump from the prior year.
Local root, global ambitions
Founder and CEO Djasur Djumaev credits Uzum’s momentum to a deep understanding of Uzbekistan’s culture and consumer habits, paired with disciplined execution. The company has built its own infrastructure from scratch, including 112,000 square metres of logistics capacity, 1.1 million square feet of storage, and the ability to process 200,000 orders daily.
Its 1,500+ pickup points span 450 towns, cities, and villages, serving as both delivery hubs and card distribution centres. Initially operating with a fulfilled-by-operator model, Uzum has since introduced fulfilled-by-seller and delivery-by-seller options, targeting 20–30% of deliveries through these methods. Its next-day delivery inventory has already grown from 600,000 SKUs in March 2024 to over 1.5 million SKUs today.
Building for the future
Beyond core services, Uzum is embedding AI into credit scoring, fraud detection, and personalised shopping. It also plans to add value-added e-commerce services, such as advertising tools for merchants.
The startup now employs more than 12,000 people, from logistics workers to engineers and product managers. With a profitable model, strong market share, and a clear roadmap for expansion, Uzum is positioning itself not just as Uzbekistan’s flagship tech success, but as a Central Asian brand capable of competing on the global stage.
