A new study reveals that the majority of technology startups in Uzbekistan face a common set of challenges: insufficient funding, a shortage of skilled professionals, and a lack of product promotion expertise. As a result, many promising projects fail to reach the scaling stage.

The findings come from the 'Uzbekistan Founder Portrait 2026' report by Stanbase, based on a survey of 229 startup founders and 25 in-depth interviews. According to the research, between 67% and 72% of startups experience funding shortages in their early stages.

The market has developed a peculiar trap: investors prefer to back projects with proven sales and a customer base, while young companies cannot enter the market without initial investment. This creates a vicious cycle that hampers the growth of new ventures.

Another significant issue for 56% of respondents is finding employees. Founders struggle to attract experienced developers by offering equity instead of a stable salary, leading many specialists to choose employment at large companies.

As businesses evolve, the primary challenges shift. More than half of entrepreneurs admit to lacking marketing knowledge, and 39% cite insufficient business development competencies. The study's authors note that engineers often create high-quality products but face difficulties in promoting them and attracting investment.

The research also indicates that existing support measures are underutilized. Nearly 36% of startup founders have never approached business incubators or government programs. The most useful tools, according to entrepreneurs, are meetings with private investors (scoring 4.46 out of 5) and closed business communities (4.24). Universities ranked last with a score of 3.25.

It is worth recalling that Uzbekistan is set to launch the Talent Hub program, which will allow foreign IT specialists and investors to register companies and open bank accounts remotely.

Source: podrobno.uz