Baiterek Holding Is Developing Cooperation with American Businesses

The subsidiary company of “Baiterek” National Managing Holding JSC, QazTech Ventures JSC, is starting to attract venture investments to Kazakhstan by signing a preliminary agreement on the establishment of a joint fund with an American venture investment fund.

The agreement signing ceremony between QazTech Ventures and V Global Fund was held in New York within the working visit of the President of Kazakhstan Qassym-Zhomart Toqayev to the USA. The event was also attended by the Chairman of the Board of Baiterek Holding, Aidar Arifkhanov.

V Global Fund is a venture capital investment fund formed by ‘500 Startups’ which is one of the leading US venture managing companies. The projects that passed the accelerator are Intercom, Sunrise, Sendgrid, 9Gag, as well as the largest Asian taxi service GrabTaxi. QazTech Ventures is planning to invest 10 mln US dollars in this fund, out of which at least 2 mln dollars will be invested in Kazakhstani startups.

The fund will have a capitalization of 150 mln US dollars. The major investments of the fund will be allocation to the most successful startups that have previously received funds from the regional or global ‘500 Startups’ funds. The fund is planning to invest 35% of the capital in companies from the USA and 65% in companies selected from around the world. It is assumed that the priority sectors for investments will be projects of IT, e-commerce, fin-tech, SAS, mining and metallurgical complex, agricultural sector, logistics and others.

- The establishment of a joint fund and cooperation with ‘500 Startups’ may become an important catalyst for the development of venture capital in Kazakhstan, since it will allow integrating into the global ecosystem and will enable scaling up domestic startups in the world market and attracting foreign investment in the country,- the Chairman of the Board of QazTech Ventures JSC, Zhandos Shaimardanov, noted.

It should be mentioned that ‘500 Startups’ is one of the leading US venture capital management companies established in 2010 in Silicon Valley (San Francisco, USA). Over the nine years of operation, the company has created 19 funds, including 4 global funds investing startup projects around the world, and 15 specific funds focused on individual regions of the world. Thus, the specific funds of ‘500 Startups’ are investing in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, Israel, the Middle East, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, Canada and other countries.

In addition, the Head of the Holding, Aidar Arifkhanov, took part in a round table with the captains of the American businesses. The meeting was attended by the top management of the large companies such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, Valmont Industries, John Deere, CITI Group, Mastercard, Amazon WebServices, Cisco, 500 Startups and others.

It is worth noting that, according to its Strategy, Baiterek Holding plays an active role in attracting foreign funding to support investment projects in Kazakhstan. The Holding may assist in providing certain benefits for American companies willing to work in the Kazakhstani market. In particular, a great interest was drawn in attracting long-term investments in infrastructure and industrial projects.

Reference:

“Baiterek” National Managing Holding” JSC was established in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated May 22, 2013. The key institution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan that complies with the advanced standards of corporate governance and ensures the implementation of the objectives for the sustainable development of the economy of Kazakhstan through its diversification, support for innovation, export development, increase in labor productivity. The Holding includes: Development Bank of Kazakhstan JSC, Investment Fund of Kazakhstan JSC, Zhilstroisberbank of Kazakhstan (HCSBK) JSC, Kazakhstan Mortgage Company MO JSC, KazakhExport EIC JSC, Damu EDF JSC, QazTech Ventures JSC, Housing Construction Guarantee Fund JSC, Kazyna Capital Management JSC, Baiterek Development JSC, Kazakhstan Project Preparation Fund LLP.

QazTech Ventures JSC is the first venture fund of funds established to enable the development of technology entrepreneurship through the tools of venture financing, business incubation and technology consulting. QazTech Ventures is a part of the structure of “Baiterek” NMH” JSC.