Kazakhstan has emerged as one of the world’s fastest-growing technology hubs, driven by a sharp shift from its traditional resource-based economy to a dynamic, innovation-led digital ecosystem, a new report released by Dealroom.co in collaboration with Astana Hub on March 25 said.

The value of Kazakhstan’s startup ecosystem soared to $26bn in 2024, marking an 18-fold increase since 2019. This rapid expansion significantly outpaces the global average, where tech sector valuations have grown by 2.6-fold over the same period. Central to this transformation are firms such as the brokerage and financial services platform Freedom Holding along with fintech and marketplace giant Kaspi.kz.

Kaspi recently exceeded a $10bn valuation, while Freedom Holding Corp, generated $1.6bn in revenue in 2024 and has outperformed major global tech stocks since 2019. Kaspi, by comparison, reported $5bn in revenue last year. These companies are helping drive Kazakhstan’s 2.9% startup-to-unicorn conversion rate – higher than the rates of Israel (2.3%), China (2.0%) and the US (1.3%).

Kazakhstan also leads in the share of funded startups achieving revenues of $10mn or more, with 2.8% of its companies reaching this threshold. This places the country ahead of Sweden (1.05%), Israel (1.0%) and Germany (0.81%).

Government backing has played a pivotal role in this transformation. The Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry has led major initiatives such as the implementation of e-government and e-licensing platforms, which have significantly improved the business environment. In addition, a $1bn “fund-of-funds” was announced at the end of 2024 in partnership with Astana Hub, aiming to mobilise private investment to support early-stage startups.

Kazakhstan is also launching the alem.ai International Artificial Intelligence Centre, which will attract international talent, foster research and support the development of AI-powered solutions for a broad range of industries.