Agrobank Commits $6.1 Million to Back Uzbek Startups

Agrobank, one of Uzbekistan's largest banks, has launched a $6.1 million corporate venture fund dedicated to investing in Uzbek startups, according to a listing on Dealroom.

The move marks the state-owned lender's first formal step into corporate venture capital. The fund will channel capital into early-stage companies building businesses in Uzbekistan, a market that has historically attracted limited institutional venture funding compared with neighboring Kazakhstan and the broader Central Asian region.

The $6.1 million commitment positions Agrobank among a small but growing group of domestic financial institutions directly financing the country's startup ecosystem. Corporate venture funds of this size typically support seed and early-stage rounds, where individual check sizes range from tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand dollars.

Uzbekistan's government has pushed to develop the country's innovation economy in recent years, encouraging banks and state-backed institutions to fund local entrepreneurs. Agrobank's fund fits that pattern: a large, state-affiliated balance sheet deploying capital directly into private startups rather than through third-party managers.

For Uzbek founders, the arrival of a bank-backed fund adds a new financing option in a market where venture capital supply remains thin. The fund's success will depend on deal flow quality and the pace at which it deploys its initial corpus.