TUZ Ventures

TUZ Ventures is an early-stage technology venture capital fund founded in September 2019 and headquartered in Astana, Kazakhstan, with a mission to develop the startup ecosystem across Central Asia and the Caucasus. The firm was established by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, co-founders Fabio Ribeiro and Herve Edongo, with a track record of penetrating untapped frontier markets that were once considered risky, such as Indonesia and Nigeria, and it runs a compact team with partners based in Kyrgyzstan, Japan and other locations. TUZ targets regionally and globally scalable startups in fintech, logistics, artificial intelligence, e-government and blockchain, and it is active across eleven countries spanning the Kyrgyz Republic, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Armenia, Georgia and Pakistan. Beyond direct investing, with around twenty investments tracked to date, the firm plays a prominent ecosystem-building role, partnering with the AIFC Tech Hub to produce 'The startup ecosystem of Kazakhstan' report and with Uzbekistan's IT Park on a study of the Uzbekistan startup market. Its stated aim is to foster local entrepreneurship, create incentives for talented founders to stay in the region, and leverage new ventures into a virtuous cycle of growth. As a small frontier-market fund, TUZ Ventures does not publicly disclose its fund size or typical cheque ranges. By combining Silicon Valley operating experience with deep frontier-market focus, TUZ Ventures backs early-stage founders and builds the entrepreneurial ecosystem across Central Asia and the Caucasus.