Tech Wrap May 22: The number of Baltic VC firms is up 14%, Georgia’s machine learning startup uses AI to help farmers

BALTICS

The number of Baltic venture funds reached 84 in 2022, up 14% to 2021. The funds raised $327 million in 2022 (up 130% to 2021), made 220 transactions (+44%) and invested $233 million in Baltic startups with the energy and environment sector topping the list of investors’ priorities in terms of money. [Source: BalticVC]

Estonia-based mobility company Bolt, which specializes in scooter, car and bike sharing services, is considering acquisition of a German-based mobility service Tier. The move would support Bolt’s global expansion plans as the German company is already active in 560 cities worldwide. [Source: BalticVC]

GEORGIA

Georgian startup AI Farmer uses artificial intelligence for data collection, machine learning, predictive analytics to help local farmers with making well-informed decisions. The product’s goal is to grow harvest volume, minimize waste, establish better irrigation practices, and encourage more efficient use of minerals. [Source: Caucasus Business Week]

An online platform for farmers enabling them sell their products directly to consumers and an online clothing platform allowing clients to customize their clothes to their needs are the winners of the Georgia government-backed startup award “Innovation Grants up to GEL 25,000.” The award seeks to encourage development in the Guria region of Georgia through innovation and commercialization of promising ideas. [Source: Caucasus Business Week]

UKRAINE

Ukrainian IT company SoftServe in cooperation with non-commercial organization VeteranHub has launched an online course EmpowerU on the basics of IT and QA engineering. The course is free and specially designed for Ukraine’s military and their families who would like to start a career in IT. [Source: Highload.Today]

Ukrainian IT company Parostok has opened a free six-month internship for fullstack coders. The selection is carried out on a competitive basis among those who know the basics of GIT, have an experience in back-end coding, and speak English at a pre-intermediate level at least. [Source: Highload.Today]

More than half of Ukrainian IT companies are not planning to hire junior specialists in 2023, a recent study shows. In 2022, companies hired 3989 such specialists, with many businesses having stopped this kind of hiring after February 24 when Russia invaded the country. [Source: Dou]

The state-run Ukrainian Startup Fund has awarded a total of $39,000 and offered internships abroad or mentorship to three startups that won competition among 20 teams. These are a feedback and NPS service Revisior, digital platform for retailers and banks to issue loyalty cards DEEPLOYALTY, and a platform for optimizing corporate expenses Spendbase. [Source: AIN.Capital]

CHINA’S CENTRAL ASIA EXPANSION

President of China Xi Jinping called for Central Asian countries–Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan–to create “a unique community” based on four principles – mutual support, joint development, common security and eternal friendship. His proposal was added by $3.8 billion provided as grants for various projects in the five countries and financial support. [Source: Reuters]  

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokaev met with CEOs of several prominent Chinese companies, including telecom giant Huawei and entertainment holding Sun Seven Star Investment Group. The parties discussed both existing and future projects in Kazakhstan, with the President welcoming more Chinese investments in the country. [Source: Profit.kz]

UZBEKISTAN 

Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has given a symbolic start to 15 Chinese-Uzbekistan joint ventures. The list of the projects worth a total of $3.3 billion includes metals, car manufacturing, construction materials and medical supplies. [Source: Spot.uz]

Uzbekistan car maker ADM Jizzakh and China’s Chery have agreed to start production of Chinese cars in Uzbekistan. Besides traditional gasoline models, the company will also manufacture electric and hybrid ones. [Source: Spot.uz] 

Uzbekistan’s stock exchange Toshkent is negotiating with world leading custody companies and banks such as Germany’s Clearstream about their entry into the country’s stock market. The absence of world-renowned custody organizations is one of the biggest obstacles preventing international investors from trading Uzbek assets. [Source: Spot.uz] 

Payments system Mastercard will open its representative office in Uzbekistan to better understand the needs of citizens of Central Asian countries. In 2022, Uzbekistan’s Central Bank and Mastercard signed a three-year cooperation agreement on partnership in the area of digital services. [Source: Economist.kg]

Uzbekistan is talking to companies from South Korea about expanding its network of electric car charging stations. The Ministry of Economy and Finance, which is in charge of the negotiations, noted that demand for electric cars has been rising in the country over recent years. [Source: Spot.uz]

KYRGYZSTAN 

Kyrgyzstan wants to overhaul its education system, taking into account development of digital technologies and artificial intelligence. The country’s Prime Minister Altynbek Zhaparov said in his speech at a forum that millions of people can become jobless in a few years if the education system is not capable of teaching them in-demand skills. [Source: the government of Kyrgyzstan]

KAZAKHSTAN

China’s State Power Investment Corporation will build a wind farm station of 1 GW in Kazakhstan. In addition, the company is going to start production of equipment for wind farms and is considering the possibility of production of so-called green hydrogen. [Source: Profit.kz]

The Kazakhstan government with support of the European Asian Development Bank and other institutions will create a platform for interaction with investors. The platform will make the interaction easier, for example, the investors will be able to track their applications for state permissions, etc. [Source: Profit.kz]