Tashkent is emerging as an unlikely but increasingly credible fintech hub, powered by a government-backed accelerator program that has drawn applications from 23 countries and graduated its third cohort of startups in August 2025. The Tashkent Fintech Accelerator, established in partnership between Uzbekistan's Ministry of Digital Technologies and a consortium of international development finance institutions, provides early-stage financial technology companies with regulatory guidance, seed funding, and access to a market of 36 million consumers who are rapidly adopting digital financial services.
Uzbekistan's fintech opportunity is rooted in its demographics and its digital transformation trajectory. With a median age of 28 and smartphone penetration exceeding 75 percent, the country's population is primed for digital financial products. Yet formal banking penetration remains below 40 percent, creating a vast addressable market for mobile-first financial services. The government has accelerated this dynamic by liberalizing foreign exchange regulations, introducing a regulatory sandbox for fintech products, and investing heavily in digital identity infrastructure that now covers over 90 percent of the adult population.
From accelerator to ecosystem
The third cohort of the Tashkent Fintech Accelerator comprised 12 startups spanning digital lending, micro-insurance, remittance services, and agricultural fintech. Several standout participants illustrate the breadth of innovation emerging from the program. One Uzbek-founded startup has developed a machine learning-based credit scoring system that uses mobile phone usage patterns and utility payment histories to assess creditworthiness for the unbanked population. Another, led by a Georgian-Uzbek founding team, has built a cross-border remittance platform that reduces transfer costs between Central Asian countries from an average of 7 percent to under 2 percent.
"Tashkent's fintech ecosystem is where Nairobi's was eight years ago. The ingredients are identical: a young, mobile-connected population, a supportive regulatory environment, and a massive gap in formal financial service coverage. The trajectory is clear for anyone willing to look." — International Development Finance panel, Tashkent
The accelerator's impact extends beyond the startups it directly supports. Its existence has catalyzed a broader ecosystem of co-working spaces, angel investor networks, and technical training programs in Tashkent. The Uzbek government has complemented these private sector developments by establishing a dedicated fintech regulatory unit within the Central Bank, staffed partly by advisors recruited from the UK's Financial Conduct Authority. This institutional support structure has given international investors confidence that Uzbekistan is serious about creating durable conditions for fintech innovation rather than pursuing a short-lived promotional exercise.
GCR Consulting has been involved with the accelerator program since its inception, providing market entry advisory services to international fintech companies exploring Uzbekistan and the broader Central Asian market. The firm's technology practice has published a comprehensive guide to Uzbekistan's fintech regulatory landscape and maintains an active database of partnership opportunities between accelerator graduates and international financial institutions. As the ecosystem matures, GCR Consulting anticipates that Tashkent will increasingly compete with Astana and Almaty for the title of Central Asia's fintech capital.
