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How are other countries developing their creative industries? What practices can be useful for companies, entrepreneurs, and organizations in our region? Answers to these questions were discussed at the International Forum on the Creative Economy, where experts shared their experiences and best approaches to developing this sector. During a panel discussion, Daniil Maikovsky, leading consultant at MCT Agency and CEO of StartUp Academy, presented the startup ecosystem of Turkmenistan, spoke about the programs of the StartUp Academy, and discussed the opportunities opening up for entrepreneurs in Central Asia. The development of the creative economy means new prospects for business and innovation. It's important to apply the best global practices and adapt them to the realities of our market.

On March 13th, an Evening Meetup was held with international expert Irina Yashina on the topic of "Building a Community Around a Company."
What did they talk about?
Why a community is not just subscribers, but a powerful tool for business development.
How startups can engage their audience and retain attention.
Mistakes that hinder the formation of an active community.
Real-world case studies from the experience of 500+ startups.
What was memorable?
Community is built on value and genuine interaction.
Engaged users become the best brand ambassadors.
Content, events, and constant dialogue are the foundation of a successful community.
Thank you to Irina for the valuable insights and to all participants for the lively discussion!

On March 11, 2025, the EVENING MEETUP with European expert Agajan Toraev took place. Agajan Toraev is the Co-founder & CEO of the British startup Robominder (UK), a successful startup founder, and a specialist in AI, Machine Learning, and Robotics.
The meeting with the expert was held in an online format, with participants gathering offline, which created an atmosphere of live communication and networking. This allowed not only to immerse themselves in the speaker's experience and knowledge but also to exchange opinions with other participants. Agajan Toraev presented real-world cases from his clients and explained the principles of how his startup works.
What did they talk about?
AI and robotics – how these technologies transform business and open up new opportunities.
Startup in Europe – how to build a successful technology business in the international market, particularly in the UK.
Mistakes and successes – what the best learn from and what steps lead to a breakthrough.
Despite the online format of communication with the expert, everyone was able to ask their questions, receive professional recommendations, and valuable insights. The meeting inspired participants with new ideas and provided motivation for development in the field of AI and startups.
Thank you to everyone who joined!

On February 20, 2025, Perkhat Niyazklychev, CEO of the GEREKLI marketplace, held a seminar for participants in the second acceleration stream. He told how the platform works - the largest online trading platform that brings together buyers and sellers throughout Turkmenistan.
Perhat shared his personal experience, discussed key aspects of interaction with clients and partners, and also answered questions from participants.
The meeting was productive, and acceleration residents received valuable insights for the development of their projects!

The digitalization of all sectors of our country's national economy and the widespread implementation of digital system capabilities are yielding positive results. Turkmen entrepreneurs are also actively working in the transition to a digital economy, offering the population various types of digital services.
In the capital of our country, Ashgabat, young entrepreneur Begench Rejepov founded the mobile application "Biar", which has gained significant interest among the population with its wide range of services. The "Biar" mobile application provides digital information about shopping and entertainment centers, restaurants, and cafes located in Turkmenistan.
The number of business accounts and users registered in the "Biar" application reaches thousands. The app contains information about cafes and restaurants, their menus, addresses, contact phone numbers, as well as the products and services they offer. This mobile application is of great interest not only to residents of the country but also to visitors of the capital.
The primary goal of the mobile application is to transition the service industry into a digital format, improve the quality of provided services, offer reliable information about restaurants and dishes, enable online ordering through the website or app, implement a restaurant rating system, and maintain communication between users and establishments through reviews.
The "Biar" mobile application is designed for user convenience. In the "Blog" section, customers can read useful articles related to food and nutrition. The app is developed in Turkmen, English, and Russian, providing additional convenience for users.

On February 1, 2025, StartUp Academy launched the second round of its acceleration program. Participants, who are promising startups ready to scale their projects, have begun intensive work on developing their ideas.
The program will last 9 weeks and includes training sessions from leading experts, individual mentoring sessions, and practical tasks aimed at business growth and development. Participants can expect a busy process that will help them take their projects to the next level.
If you would like to join the next round, apply and become part of the startup community.

In Ashgabat, on December 7–8, 2024, StartUp Academy, with the support of USAID, organized a Hackathon on the territory of the ITEA educational center located in the Berkarar business center. The event brought together 15 teams with a total of 67 participants.Each team had to develop a digital solution within 48 hours for a customer from a real business - MIWE Agricultural Holding. The task was large-scale: to help the customer obtain a real and detailed picture of the state of the gardens in real time.

Six experienced mentors accompanied the teams, helping them overcome difficulties. To objectively evaluate the results, the organizers invited a jury of five people representing the business community and the IT sector.

The three best teams received cash prizes, and all participants received valuable gifts from sponsors, including Belet Film, Ak Sahypa, Miwe, Aýdym.com, Iş Nokady, Görogly Fitness. These companies support the development of the technology sector and encourage youth to reach new heights.

A hackathon is more than just a competition. It serves as a starting point for creating start-ups, developing professional networks and introducing innovative business solutions. The hackathon once again proved that Turkmenistan has talented and ambitious specialists who are ready to create technologies of the future.

On December 1, the developer festival DevFest-2024 was held in the Ish Nokady conference hall of the Arkach shopping center.
DevFest is part of a global network of major conferences that take place around the world under the auspices of Google.
This wonderful event was organized by local communities Google Developer Groups (GDG).
In our country, Google Developer Group and Women Techmakers Ashgabat were founded in December 2019.These communities bring together young and ambitious developers who participate in events on a voluntary basis.
The main goal of the festival was to popularize technology, programming and all aspects of the IT sphere. This year, special attention was paid to artificial intelligence, which is becoming increasingly relevant in the modern world.
More than 10 speakers shared their knowledge and experience on current topics with more than 400 participants.
The sessions took place in two halls simultaneously, in online and offline formats.
It is important to note that more than 15 volunteers made a great contribution to the event.

On November 23, 2024, StartUp Academy held the Demo Day of its 11th Business Incubation Program. As part of the event, which took place at the “Iş Nokady” co-working center on the territory of the “Arkaç” business center, participants learned about the history of the creation and development of the Startup Academy, and also witnessed the competitive part of the 11th Business Incubation Program, where teams presented your projects to be assessed by a professional jury.The event brought together more than 100 guests, including experienced entrepreneurs, technology experts and graduates of previous Academy streams who continue to work on their projects.Seven startups took part in the competition. These teams underwent a rigorous training program, including trainings, webinars and individual consultations with experts. For a month and a half, the participants worked on their projects: developing business and financial models, testing target market hypotheses, determining monetization, forming future business processes and preparing presentations for potential investors.

A competent jury consisting of experienced businessmen selected the three best projects that stood out for their promise, readiness to solve real problems of the target audience, thoughtfulness and development: 1) Marketplace of works of art “FuzzoLAB” (founder Aknur Khojamkulieva), 2) Discount aggregator “Gapjyk” (founder Shamurad Ataev), 3) Child Development Center “LogoKids” (founder Guncha Khodzhaev).

source:  orient.tm  

The Central Asian Startup Forum, which was held in Tashkent on November 13, brought together key players in the startup ecosystems of the countries of the region, including startups, experts, venture funds, accelerators, universities, government agencies, international organizations, etc.
The main goal of the forum is to create a dynamic platform for the exchange of knowledge, experience and best practices between participants, as well as to promote cooperation and synergy between startup ecosystems throughout Central Asia.The event took place in various formats: panel discussions, thematic lectures, seminars, round tables, network sessions, startup presentations and much more.
Central Asia today is becoming a single integrated space where talented youth can receive support, finance and experience to create startups.

Daniil Maikovsky, director of Startup Academy in Turkmenistan, cited a case of successful cooperation between Central Asian countries:

“Our organization has attracted funding from the FGI/USAID project to strengthen its capacity. Now we are preparing a conference on startups, which will take place in April 2025. As part of the program, there will be a series of webinars from MOST employees that will help expand our activities and make them more sustainable, as well as improve financial performance and indicators of attracting target audiences - startups and investors.Joint efforts to develop the startup ecosystem in Turkmenistan by the local organization StartUp Academy and the most experienced ecosystem builder in Central Asia, MOST, can significantly accelerate the development of the startup community in Turkmenistan.”

In general, the forum talked about the importance of creating connections between the hubs of different Central Asian countries, developing early-stage startups in order to later bring them to more mature positions and export technological products to international markets, thereby jointly promoting the region on the world stage.That is why the private venture fund in Central Asia MOST is launching an accelerator fund with a mandate of investing in early-stage startups and high scaling potential with founders from the countries of the region.

After the completion of all panel sessions of the forum, a startup battle took place, in which 10 startups from Central Asia competed, including two from Turkmenistan: Biar delivery (Begench Rejepov) and Zootel (Tahir Orazdurdyev).

source:  orient.tm

A student hackathon aimed at finding optimal IT solutions to create simplified methods of teaching foreign languages was held at the Dovletmammet Azadi Turkmen National Institute of World Languages. This is reported by ‘Turkmenistan: Golden Age’.  

Students from 17 universities of Turkmenistan took part in the hackathon.  

According to the results of the competition, the Grand Prix was won by the team of the Turkmen State Institute of Architecture and Construction.  

The first place was awarded to participants from the International University of Humanities and Development and the Institute of Engineering and Transport Communications of Turkmenistan.  

The second place was taken by students of the Institute of Telecommunications and Informatics of Turkmenistan and the Y.Kakaev International University of Oil and Gas.  

The third place was shared by student teams from the Turkmen State Pedagogical Institute named after S.Seidi, the Turkmen State University named after Makhtumkuli and the Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan.  

The winners were awarded certificates of honour and valuable gifts from the D.Azadi Turkmen National Institute of World Languages. 

According to the organisers, this competition showed a high enough level of innovative potential of young people, their interest in development in this direction and became one of the most effective in its field.  

During the contest, all team members had an opportunity to improve their IT skills and creative abilities, meet like-minded people, make friends and learn a lot, the source said. 

source:  turkmenportal.com

+99361130929
Н.Гуллаева,дом 33, MCT Agency, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
academy@mctagency.com
startup_tm.com

Results of the Evening Meetup with Nikita Starov. 18.03.2025

The Future of the Creative Economy in Central Asia.

Results of the Evening Meetup with Irina Yashina. 13.03.2025

Results of the EVENING MEETUP with Agajan Toraev: Insights from an Expert in AI and Robotics. 11.03.2025

Seminar "Product Approach - The Path to Success" 04.03.2025

Secrets of a successful marketplace from CEO GEREKLI. 20.02.2025

On February 16, an event took place in the Telwas coworking space that brought together talented entrepreneurs and investors - StartUp ShowCase. 16.02.2025

About our Acceleration graduate

"StartUp Academy has launched the second batch of its acceleration program."

“Programming the future: how a hackathon in Ashgabat reveals the potential of IT talents” 07.12.2024-08.12.2024

DevFest-2024 in Ashgabat gathered more than 400 participants

StartUp Academy held a startup project competition in Ashgabat

Turkmenistan on the startup map of Central Asia and prospects for the regional ecosystem

"Student Hackathon"