RB ASIA team took part in the masterclass on managing venture funds.
The National Venture Fund of Uzbekistan Venture Capital (UzVC), in cooperation with the USAID Entrepreneurship and Business Environment Development Project, organized a Master class on Venture Fund management on November 2-4, 2021, during which issues of venture capital investment, venture capital fund management and development were discussed.
This event was organized for venture capital funds, business angels and entrepreneurs from Central Asia. The master class was attended by offline and online over 40 organizations, including venture funds of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, investment companies, representatives of IT startups, as well as entrepreneurs interested in investing in venture projects in the region.
International Expretise
Representatives of leading international venture capital funds shared their experience of investing in startups, creating business accelerators and managing venture capital investments.
On the first day of the master classes, Anastasia Bykovskaya (COBALT Legal, Bulgaria), Evgeny Angelov (BVCA, Bulgaria), Vladimir Danailov (ex-FMFIB, Bulgaria), Svital Kumar (Startupscale360, UAE) presented the activities of their organizations and the experience of European countries and countries of the Middle East region. The participants of the event got acquainted with the methods of formation and management of the fund of funds, the integration of the private sector into the management of public funds, and, together with all the speakers of the event, discussed the possibilities of venture investment in the Republic of Uzbekistan. On the second day of the event, Max Hurwitz (Vitosha Venture Partners, Bulgaria), Kip Stringfellow (500 Global, USA), Aziza Zakhidova (EBRD VC, Europe) and Ruslan Rakimbay (Quest Ventures, Singapore) talked about seed investments and acceleration programs carried out by their organizations and discussed with all the participants about attracting international acceleration programs to the country. Together with the discussions, the founders of successful local startups Aziz Akhrarov (Yukber.uz) and Botir Arifdzhanov (LeBazar.uz) talked about the path and success of their business in the current political and economic conditions of the Republic of Uzbekistan. On the master class, all participants also got acquainted with the difficulties faced by successful startups in Uzbekistan at the initial stages of development, moreover, possible solutions and improvement of the ecosystem in Uzbekistan were also discussed.
RB ASIA sees potential in the development of venture capital investments in Uzbekistan. Our company, like many other participants in the venture capital ecosystem, is intrigued in the development and fundraising of startups and businesses at an early stage of development, which do not have access to the capital market.
Today, it is necessary to develop infrastructure, including support startups, improve the quality of education, and create business accelerators and incubators.
RB Asia will also provide the necessary support for local startups.
Expanding VC network
Following the results of the event, network relationships were established with the National UzVC, representatives of world leaders in venture capital investment and venture capital fund management, as well as with related stakeholders and international specialists with the aim of further cooperation and development of the venture investment ecosystem in the Republic of Uzbekistan.