Uzbekistan’s Uzum valuation leaps over 50% in seven months to $2.3B

Uzbekistan fintech Uzum has reached a $2.3 billion valuation — about 53% increased than simply seven months in the past — as buyers place rising bets on the nation’s rising digital economic system.

The valuation stems from a $131.5 million funding led by sovereign wealth funds from Oman, with participation from present buyers together with Tencent, VR Capital, and FinSight Ventures. This spherical includes $81.5 million in fairness and $50 million in convertible financing tied to Uzum’s subsequent funding spherical, because the startup targets a possible $250 million to $300 million pre-IPO increase within the second half of 2026 or early 2027.

In August, Uzum raised $65.5 million increase at a $1.5B valuation. It had grow to be the nation’s first unicorn (a startup surpassing over a billion greenback valuation) in March 2024.

This contemporary funding comes as Uzbekistan, Central Asia’s most populous nation, emerges as one of many area’s fastest-growing digital economies, pushed by a younger inhabitants, fast smartphone adoption, and low penetration of on-line retail and banking providers.

Based in 2022, Uzum shortly grew into Uzbekistan’s main “digital ecosystem,” because it describes its enterprise, combining e-commerce, funds, and shopper lending.

Constructing Uzbekistan’s digital ecosystem

Uzum started with an e-commerce market, Uzum Market, and has since expanded into monetary providers via its digital banking arm, Uzum Financial institution, and shopper lending platform, Uzum Nasiya. The startup additionally operates an specific meals supply service, Uzum Tezkor, as a part of its technique to construct an built-in ecosystem spanning commerce, funds, and banking.

On the time of its earlier funding spherical in August 2025, Uzum reported greater than 17 million month-to-month lively customers on its platform. Right now, the ecosystem reaches about 20 million customers — greater than half of Uzbekistan’s grownup inhabitants. Its market connects over 17,000 native sellers, and providers throughout the ecosystem processed round $11 billion in fee quantity in 2025. The variety of annual transacting customers rose to about 4.6 million in 2025 from round 3 million a 12 months earlier.

Chief govt Djasur Djumaev mentioned Uzbekistan’s retail sector might evolve otherwise from many different markets, with e-commerce enjoying a central position in that shift.

“Beforehand, we’ve talked about that e-commerce is one thing that’s going to remodel into retail,” Djumaev informed TechCrunch. “It is going to leapfrog the standard retail part within the nation, transferring from bazaars and casual commerce straight into digital commerce.”

Fintech driving profitability

Uzum’s monetary efficiency has grown alongside its increasing ecosystem. The startup reported income of $691 million in 2025, up from $505 million a 12 months earlier, whereas web revenue rose to $176 million from $150 million. Its e-commerce market generated $500 million in gross merchandise worth and reached EBITDA profitability after three years of operation, the corporate says.

Nikolay Seleznev, Uzum’s chief technique and enterprise growth officer, mentioned the startup’s fintech operations stay the first supply of profitability throughout the ecosystem.

Uzum’s digital financial institution presently serves round 5 million clients and issued 4.1 million debit playing cards in 2025, accounting for about half of all playing cards issued in Uzbekistan that 12 months. The startup’s unsecured mortgage e book has grown to $400 million, whereas whole finance quantity — the quantity of credit score disbursed via its platform — reached $1.2 billion in 2025. Furthermore, the startup expects so as to add one other 5 million banking clients over the approaching 12 months because it expands lending and fee providers.

Uzum has additionally been increasing its market past home sellers by introducing cross-border commerce, permitting Uzbek shoppers to order merchandise straight from worldwide retailers. The startup mentioned the initiative added almost 200 million stock-keeping models (SKUs) from markets together with Turkey and China. Alongside worldwide stock, the platform works with native sellers offering round 1.5 million merchandise obtainable for next-day supply.

To assist that development, Uzum has been investing closely in logistics and bodily infrastructure throughout Uzbekistan. The startup presently operates about 1,500 pickup factors nationwide and plans to develop the community to round 3,000 areas by 2026. Additional, the startup operates round 125,000 sq. meters of warehouse capability at this time and plans to develop that to about 500,000 sq. meters utilizing 4 logistics facilities, which it’s presently constructing as a part of a broader logistics build-out.

Seleznev informed TechCrunch that constructing logistics infrastructure has been important for scaling e-commerce in Uzbekistan, the place third-party achievement suppliers stay restricted.

“You have to spend money on infrastructure your self to ship and shift buyer expectations,” he mentioned.

Uzum plans to make use of the brand new funding to develop its fintech infrastructure and deepen its product choices throughout each commerce and monetary providers. The startup plans to spend money on extra ATMs, fee acceptance infrastructure, and point-of-sale methods as it really works towards constructing a totally built-in digital banking platform.

Seleznev mentioned Uzum goals to go public throughout the subsequent few years, possible inside three years, although the precise timeline has but to be determined. The startup has been exploring a number of potential itemizing venues, together with exchanges within the U.S., Europe, the Center East, and Southeast Asia, because it positions itself for world buyers.

Uzum presently employs round 12,500 folks because it continues increasing its commerce, fintech and logistics operations throughout Uzbekistan.