askAlem

Meet the innovators driving digital transformation across borders. 🌍   We’re proud to introduce the start-ups joining the Digital Start-ups Scale-up Programme by Al-Farabi Innovation Hub and DIFC Innovation Hub empowering the next generation of tech leaders.   #DIFCInnovationHub #AlFarabiInnovationHub #DigitalStartups #ScaleUp #Innovation #Entrepreneurship

What a milestone for Central Asia–GCC collaboration at GITEX GLOBAL 2025. Our presence this year wasn’t about representation — it was about impact and proving that Central Asia is ready to play on the global innovation stage. Together with DIFC Innovation Hub , we’re shaping the tech future of Central Asia and the GCC. At the “Unlocking Central Asia” event, over 120 investors and tech leaders from MENA joined us to strengthen regional collaboration. With Astana Hub and White Hill Capital we launched the Tumar Innovation Hub to connect founders and investors across both regions. The momentum continued at the IGNYTE Challenge Demo Day, where fintech Dhahaby won from 400+ applicants, earning a $10,000 grant and announcing its Uzbekistan expansion, a clear sign of growing trust and partnership. Meanwhile, the Central Asian Innovation Hubs booth, co-organized by IT PARK Uzbekistan and Astana Hub, featured 10 standout startups —GEOMOTIVE, #Gluon, BRB-TECH, Delever, Fleetroot, ioka, Finflow, eXpace, askAlem, and Qulla AI. Grateful to our partners —DIFC Innovation Hub , Ignyte Platforms, Astana Hub, White Hill Capital, Al-Farabi Innovation Hub, 1MORETHING VENTURES — and to the incredible leaders who made this collaboration possible Mohammad Alblooshi, Tanat Uskembayev, Aslan Sultanov, Rinata Ilyubayeva, Javonsher Abdullaev, CFA Muzaffar (Muz) Karabaev, Ala’ Malek Hamzeh Aljayyusi, Grant Tuchten.

#MarketMapMondays – PAYMENTS x AI India changed the world with UPI — processing $3.2T annually and powering half of all global real-time digital payments. The question now: 👉 Can India pull off the same magic for Agentic Payments? Today’s #MarketMapMondays dives into the emerging agentic payments stack and the opportunities it unlocks for founders. Inspired by an insightful piece from Laura Salesse (Eight Roads). WHAT'S BROKEN WITH TODAY'S PAYMENTS? Payment rails are designed for humans — passwords, cards, OTPs. None of this works in an agent-native world. To enable agentic payments, we need a complete re-imagination of: ➡ Identity ➡ Rules/Permissions (spend limits, guardrails) ➡ Wallets (programmable funding sources) ➡ AI-native rails/APIs ➡ Know Your Agent (audit trails) ➡ Metering & Billing HOW'S THE LANDSCAPE EVOLVING? Based on early signals, the following 4 approaches are emerging: 1⃣ Human in the loop — Agent prepares checkout, human approves 2⃣ Stored credentials — Agent fills details, human confirms 3⃣ Virtual cards — Limited-use, agent-controlled (e.g., Stripe) 4⃣ Stablecoin-based agentic systems — Programmable wallets enabling direct value transfer (e.g., Coinbase, Visa) At Antler, we’re bullish on this frontier and have made some early bets. Our portco askAlem (Dinara A.) is building a secure payment layer for AI agents + humans. Founders - The time for an Agentic UPI is here. Let’s seize it.If you’re building in this space — let’s talk. DM me. Rajiv Srivatsa | Nitin Sharma | Jasnoor Gill | Sankalp Sharma | Raghav Chopra | Pranit Malhotra #MarketMapMondays #AgenticPayments #AI #UPI #Fintech #Payments #Startups #FutureOfMoney #AICommerce

The broker bot that I've been working on for askAlem for the past few months is at last alive on the Discord App Directory and is currently being rolled out to servers for usage (and testing). :3 We're currently in 6 servers (serving a wide variety of interest groups), and aim to roll out to double digits soon. As always, thank you to Dinara A. & Antoine Fourmont-Fingal for giving me the chance to work on this, and to Daniel Motilla for helping our right now so that the launch goes smoothly. If you are curious about using it within your own server(s), please checcit out here: https://lnkd.in/gxd245R5

I'm not usually a people-pleaser, but May was #incredible—and I truly want to thank the people who made it such an amazing month! First of all, two people who made first version of askAlem product and finally we have product to test, sell and so on (#aiagents if you are reading my post - feel free to pay each other using our API:)) Antoine Fourmont-Fingal Øyvind Sørøy huge thanks for believing in #globalagenticeconomy and more in our crazy ideas Second, to motivator Nitin Sharma, to super kind Gowri Shankar Nagarajan , to our mega supportive and nice Karan Prasad and chill+ always relaxed Rajiv Srivatsa to bringing 13 startups together in San Francisco (+forcing me to work 2 time zones) and having 32 meetings (see picture) with 100+ in person networking - AMAZING JOB, GUYS, BRAVO, BRAVO, BRAVO! Antler is the best! And to all startup founders for supporting Anurag Ram Chandran Ronak Massand, challenging Ayush Agarwal, asking me tough question : what kind of problem I solve or doubting it Yoeven D Khemlani (this is how you make progress), and of course for fun times : for long walks Samriddhie Taneja ,food time : Jivitesh Jadwani Rishabh Goel Yue (Lawrence) Xu and others I really don’t know how far we can go in this #startupjourney — but one thing I’m sure of: No matter how hard it gets, as an #underdog, we always find a way to make it happen. #UnicornGame? Maybe. But as I always say — let’s build at least a #Decacorn 😄 As Gokul Rajaram said during Antler Embark: "There are no rules in this #startupgame — except being human." So, let’s make it happen. And lastly, to Aziz Ochilov Aziza and all Plug and Play Central Asia and Caucasus team (including Alfredo Gomez Soria) for organizing amazing accelerator in Uzbekistan (batch4) and more importantly for bringing amazing mentors Katrin Kiviselg Barbara Leavitt Karlis Jonass Colin Turner Theodora Preda (Theo, thanks for coming to see us at GITEX EUROPE), especially 1000x thanks for Andrew Love for being our mentor for the last 2 months ( I know sometimes we challenged you but thanks for your time and support) and congrats with Expo day again Plug and Play Central Asia and Caucasus P.S. Thanks for #kazakhfounders for intros and #endless support P.S.S. For those you want to become our part of story: better you believe and invest :) otherwise when I have to choose, will be even more difficult to be part of our #successstory :) ) P.S.S.S. And for the #hardchoices that I had to make , life is all about #choices and maybe it's success story when even with endless meetings, networking events , you still prioritize your project over your sleep and over your personal life and working from different airports, time zones becomes part of normal life! Now, lets make it happen #Agent2AgentPayments #GlobalAgenticEconomy #StartupLife #FounderJourney #Antler #PlugAndPlay #Alem #Fintech #AI #AntlerEmbark #Kazakhstan

Central Asia Makes a Bold Statement at GITEX EUROPE 2025 in Berlin 🇰🇿🇺🇿🌍 From May 21 to 23, Berlin hosted GITEX EUROPE 2025, the continent’s largest tech event, gathering over 40,000 experts from more than 100 countries. For the first time, the Central Asian Innovation Hubs alliance—Astana Hub (Kazakhstan) and IT Park Uzbekistan—showcased 17 groundbreaking startups from the region. The Kazakhstani delegation, led by Zhaslan Madiyev, Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry, featured eight innovative startups under the Central Asian Innovation Hubs brand: • Beksar – retail tech with analytics and sales automation tools • Arlan Biotech – generative AI for rapid antibody generation • SmartGas – fleet monitoring system reducing fuel losses by up to 30% • Alaqan Technologies – palm vein biometrics for secure, contactless systems • SHAI – generative AI for personalized content • QalaAI – UrbanTech powered by AI and geoanalytics • Hired Valley – employee development platform • AskAlem – AI business assistants Uzbekistan showcased a wide array of technological solutions across public, educational, and corporate sectors: • FIDO-BIZNES & Corporate Solutions Group – software for government and enterprise • Unitlab AI – AI startup backed by Google, NVIDIA, and 500 Global • UZINFOCOM – national integrator of digital public services • Evertech – outstaffing team for AI and SaaS startups • EdSmart – EdTech platform with hybrid video studios • K-Tech – IoT-based building management and energy efficiency • Eskiz – secure digital communication platform • Realsoft AI – privacy-focused AI and federated learning solutions “Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan’s joint presence under the Central Asian Innovation Hubs brand is a strategic move that highlights Central Asia’s rising role on the global tech map. We’re not just showcasing startups—we’re presenting a unified innovation ecosystem with global ambitions,” — Magzhan Madiyev, CEO of Astana Hub. “Our regional alliance is already yielding results—increased investor interest, growing export potential, and Uzbekistan’s steady climb in the StartupBlink global rankings prove our international strategy is working,” — Farhod Ibragimov, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, IT Park Uzbekistan. 📍 A major milestone: During GITEX EUROPE 2025, Astana Hub and KAOUN International signed an MoU to host GITEX Central Asia & Caucasus x Ai Everything Kazakhstan in Astana, June 2–4, 2026—the first GITEX event in Central Asia. This will unite key players from Europe, the Middle East, and the CIS, reinforcing Kazakhstan’s role as a hub of digital diplomacy and IT exports. #GITEXEurope2025 #CentralAsianInnovation #AstanaHub #ITParkUzbekistan #Startups #AI #TechDiplomacy #DigitalSilkRoad #Kazakhstan #Uzbekistan #GITEX #GlobalInnovation