22/04/2025
Institutionalizing Investment Collaboration Across Borders
📍 Host: Christy Canida, Senior Director | Location: San Francisco, CA
Founded in 2012, Alchemist Accelerator is one of the most selective B2B-focused accelerators in the world, with alumni such as Rigetti Computing and LaunchDarkly, and backing from top-tier VCs like Khosla Ventures, DFJ, and Cisco.
Following the meeting, IT Park Ventures and Alchemist Accelerator signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a formal partnership built on four pillars:
This partnership establishes a durable two-way bridge between Uzbekistan and Silicon Valley, fostering capital flow, knowledge exchange, and founder mobility.
Advancing Entrepreneurial Capacity and Transnational Talent Mobility
📍 Host: Suffiyan Malik, Vice President of Programs | Location: San Mateo, CA
Founded by legendary investor Tim Draper — known for early bets on Tesla, Skype, Hotmail, and SpaceX — Draper University has become one of the world’s most influential startup launchpads. Its Hero Training Program has produced over 4,000 founders from 100+ countries.
Key outcomes from the meeting included:
The partnership laid the groundwork for long-term collaboration on founder training, investment and transnational innovation readiness.
Positioning Uzbekistan as a Frontier for Gaming and Interactive Media Development
📍 Attendee: Bill Wang, Co-Founder | Location: Palo Alto, CA
On April 17, a meeting took place in San Francisco between representatives of IT Park Ventures and Bill Wang, Co-Founder of U.S.-based SkyStone Games — a well-known publisher and co-developer of games for the global market.
SkyStone Games was founded by industry veterans, including Jeff Pobst (Founder of Hidden Path Entertainment) and Bill Wang (former senior executive at Perfect World). The company specializes in publishing indie and midcore titles, maintains strategic partnerships with key players, and has deep ties within the Asian and global gaming ecosystems.
During the meeting, Azamat Karamatov, CEO of IT Park Ventures, presented Uzbekistan’s value proposition for the gaming industry — including 0% tax incentives for IT companies, free office space, IT visas, and a rapidly growing game development community, currently ranked #1 in Central Asia. He also highlighted opportunities for localization, publishing, and regional distribution across the CIS and MENA markets.
Bill Wang expressed strong interest in expanding into Central Asia and establishing a regional hub for game development, QA, and support operations in Uzbekistan. Both sides discussed the potential for collaboration with local studios, as well as co-investment opportunities with IT Park Ventures, and agreed to continue discussions around launching a dedicated SkyStone presence in Uzbekistan.
The IT Park Ventures team also extended an invitation to SkyStone Games to participate in ICT Week 2025 in Tashkent this September, and to explore co-investment opportunities in local gaming projects.
This meeting marked another important step in positioning Uzbekistan as a competitive destination for global gaming companies. Collaboration with industry leaders like SkyStone Games opens new doors for local developers and strengthens Uzbekistan’s potential as an export-oriented hub for digital products.
📍 Location: Tesla Factory, Fremont, CA
In addition to formal meetings, the delegation visited the Tesla Factory in Fremont, gaining firsthand exposure to one of the world’s most advanced hubs for robotics, automation, and manufacturing innovation.
The visit provided deep insight into how early-stage technologies — such as machine vision, industrial AI, and advanced materials — are scaled into global production systems. It also highlighted how startups integrate into Tesla’s supply chain and what type of technical and regulatory readiness is required.
Crucially, the visit sparked discussion on how startups from Central Eurasia — with a strong focus on Uzbek founders — can better prepare to participate in this global innovation economy. The need for targeted support across prototyping, compliance, and industrial partnerships was a key takeaway.
These insights will be incorporated into IT Park Ventures’ future investment strategy, and to IT Park’s acceleration design, and founder support infrastructure — ensuring that Uzbek-led deeptech ventures have a path to scale beyond borders.
“For too long, talented founders from Central Eurasia — especially Uzbekistan — have had to overcome enormous barriers to access the global stage. These meetings are about changing that equation.
We’re building a platform where a young entrepreneur from Uzbekistan has the same access to accelerators, capital, and global partnerships as their peers in Silicon Valley. Through these strategic collaborations, we’re not just opening doors — we’re ensuring our founders have the tools, networks, and confidence to scale, compete, and lead on a global level.” — Azamat Karamatov, CEO, IT Park Ventures
IT Park Ventures is Uzbekistan’s government-backed venture capital platform, established to accelerate early-stage innovation, attract international capital, and support cross-border startup growth. By partnering with top global accelerators, funds, and innovation hubs, IT Park Ventures enables regional founders to scale into global markets.
