Top Stories May 9: Ukrainian robotics startup raises $4.6M

UKRAINE

Ukrainian cyber security startup Osavul raised $1 million from venture fund SMRK. Osavul uses artificial intelligence for faster detecting and neutralizing cyber threats. [Source: AIM Capital]

Zakaz.ua, an Ukrainian startup, developed Robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) concept, and raised $4.6 million in a round with participation of business angels as well as One Way Ventures, Lux Capital and Commerce VC. Zakaz.ua offers robots for owners of warehouses and logistics centers for processing orders. [Source: AIN Capital]

Two Ukrainian specialists, a married couple, have launched an IT consultation platform TheWays connecting experts and those seeking a solution of a business task that’s not covered by educational courses or books. A client can find a mentor in one of the following areas: startups, communications or career. [Source: Highload.Today] 

ESTONIA RISING

Estonian startups generated nearly $624 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2023, up 34% compared to the corresponding period of 2022. A total of 14 new startups were registered during this period. [Source: Baltic VC]

Ireland’s venture private equity group VentureWave has bought a majority stake in Estonia-based equity and trading platform Funderbeam for $40 million. The investment will help the platform beef up its capabilities and offer more options for private market investors. [Source: Business Post]

ARMENIA

International companies are establishing their representatives in the capital of Armenia, the city of Yerevan, looking for Russian IT specialists there. Due to the relatively affordable cost of living in Armenia, Russian-speaking population, closeness to Russia and rather friendly attitude, many Russians choose Yerevan as their destination fleeing from military service or economic crisis in their home country. [Source: Bloomberg]

UZBEKISTAN 

Uzbekistan imported 1,600 electro cars from January through March 2023 worth $54.7 million, which is 3.7 times higher year-on-year. The list of countries of origin of the vehicles is topped by Hong Kong followed by Germany, South Korea, and United Arab Emirates. [Source: Kapital.uz]

The residents of Tashkent-based IT Park sold their services for $227 million in the first quarter 2023, up 292% to Q1 2022. Most of the revenue was generated in coding services followed by education services and virtual reality products. [Source: Kapital.uz]

GEORGIA PUSHES FOR DIGITALIZATION

All medical clinics in Georgia will be required to put all information on the health status of their clients into the Electronic Health Record system (EHS) to enhance the manageability of the national healthcare. Only emergency service providers, countryside doctors, and family doctors will be exempt from this requirement. [Source: Caucasus Business Week]

Passengers of taxis in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, will be able to pay for a ride through QR-codes. The new payment method is supposed to make payment services more convenient for the drivers and passengers as well as enhance the transparency of the local taxi market. [Source: Caucasus Business Week]

KAZAKHSTAN 

Mobile phone service and mobile Internet were the cheapest in Kazakhstan in 2022 when calculated against the gross national income (GNI) among all the Central Asian countries, including Turkmenistan, Tadjikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. The average shares of expenses for these services in GNI in the country were also below the world average, according to the International Telecommunication Union. [Source: Kapital.kz] 

Huawei Technologies Kazakhstan has launched a special platform for students of local high schools, Huawei ICT Community, for education and communication between the company and students. While the participants get access to expertise, courses, new technologies and job opportunities, Huawei gets a potential talented workforce. [Source: Kapital.kz]

KYRGYZSTAN

The number of bank cards in Kyrgyzstan doubled during the period of 2018-2022, according to the country’s National Bank, to 5.2 million cards. The most of them, three million, are issued on the national payment processing system Elcart. [Source: Kapital.kz]

The government of Kyrgyzstan will take measures to educate the workforce so that they could find high-paid jobs abroad, where at the moment 1.5 million citizens of Kyrgyzstan work. The government says that the number of those employed abroad will be rising over the next few years, but the workforce is often unqualified for well-paid positions. [Source: Economist.kg]

AZERBAIJAN

Azerbaijan and the United Kingdom will strengthen cooperation in the IT sector, eyeing launching educational cybersecurity programs of British universities in the country’s high schools, UK’s ambassador to Azerbaijan Fergus Old said in an interview. He added his mission is also to make British IT companies aware of the opportunities they can find in the growing Azerbaijan’s digital services market. [Source: Report.az]

The government of Azerbaijan and educational online platform Coursera will cooperate in the field of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The two sides agreed on it at the World Economic Forum, the country’s Ministry of Economy told the media. [Source: Report.az]