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

Uzbekistan fintech Uzum has reached a $2.3 cardinal valuation — astir 53% higher than conscionable 7 months agone — arsenic investors spot increasing bets connected the country’s emerging integer economy.

The valuation stems from a $131.5 cardinal concern led by sovereign wealthiness funds from Oman, with information from existing investors including Tencent, VR Capital, and FinSight Ventures. This circular comprises $81.5 cardinal successful equity and $50 cardinal successful convertible financing tied to Uzum’s adjacent backing round, arsenic the startup targets a imaginable $250 cardinal to $300 cardinal pre-IPO rise successful the 2nd fractional of 2026 oregon aboriginal 2027.

In August, Uzum raised $65.5 cardinal raise astatine a $1.5B valuation. It had go the country’s archetypal unicorn (a startup surpassing implicit a cardinal dollar valuation) successful March 2024.

This caller concern comes arsenic Uzbekistan, Central Asia’s astir populous country, emerges arsenic one of the region’s fastest-growing integer economies, driven by a young population, accelerated smartphone adoption, and debased penetration of online retail and banking services.

Founded successful 2022, Uzum rapidly grew into Uzbekistan’s starring “digital ecosystem,” arsenic it describes its business, combining e-commerce, payments, and user lending.

Building Uzbekistan’s integer ecosystem

Uzum began with an e-commerce marketplace, Uzum Market, and has since expanded into fiscal services done its integer banking arm, Uzum Bank, and user lending platform, Uzum Nasiya. The startup besides operates an explicit nutrient transportation service, Uzum Tezkor, arsenic portion of its strategy to physique an integrated ecosystem spanning commerce, payments, and banking.

At the clip of its erstwhile backing circular successful August 2025, Uzum reported much than 17 cardinal monthly progressive users connected its platform. Today, the ecosystem reaches astir 20 cardinal users — much than fractional of Uzbekistan’s big population. Its marketplace connects implicit 17,000 section sellers, and services crossed the ecosystem processed astir $11 cardinal successful outgo measurement successful 2025. The fig of yearly transacting users roseate to astir 4.6 cardinal successful 2025 from astir 3 cardinal a twelvemonth earlier.

Image Credits:Uzum

Chief enforcement Djasur Djumaev said Uzbekistan’s retail assemblage could germinate otherwise from galore different markets, with e-commerce playing a cardinal relation successful that shift.

“Previously, we’ve mentioned that e-commerce is thing that’s going to alteration into retail,” Djumaev told TechCrunch. “It volition leapfrog the accepted retail signifier successful the country, moving from bazaars and informal commercialized straight into integer commerce.”

Fintech driving profitability

Uzum’s fiscal show has grown alongside its expanding ecosystem. The startup reported gross of $691 cardinal successful 2025, up from $505 cardinal a twelvemonth earlier, portion nett income roseate to $176 cardinal from $150 million. Its e-commerce marketplace generated $500 cardinal successful gross merchandise worth and reached EBITDA profitability aft 3 years of operation, the institution says.

Nikolay Seleznev, Uzum’s main strategy and concern improvement officer, said the startup’s fintech operations stay the superior root of profitability wrong the ecosystem.

Uzum’s integer slope presently serves astir 5 cardinal customers and issued 4.1 cardinal debit cards successful 2025, accounting for astir fractional of each cards issued successful Uzbekistan that year. The startup’s unsecured indebtedness publication has grown to $400 million, portion full concern measurement — the magnitude of recognition disbursed done its level — reached $1.2 cardinal successful 2025. Moreover, the startup expects to adhd different 5 cardinal banking customers implicit the coming twelvemonth arsenic it expands lending and outgo services.

Image Credits:Uzum

Uzum has besides been expanding its marketplace beyond home sellers by introducing cross-border commerce, allowing Uzbek consumers to bid products straight from planetary merchants. The startup said the inaugural added astir 200 cardinal stock-keeping units (SKUs) from markets including Turkey and China. Alongside planetary inventory, the level works with section sellers providing astir 1.5 cardinal products disposable for next-day delivery.

To enactment that growth, Uzum has been investing heavy successful logistics and carnal infrastructure crossed Uzbekistan. The startup presently operates astir 1,500 pickup points nationwide and plans to grow the web to astir 3,000 locations by 2026. Further, the startup operates astir 125,000 quadrate meters of warehouse capableness contiguous and plans to grow that to astir 500,000 quadrate meters utilizing 4 logistics centers, which it is presently gathering arsenic portion of a broader logistics build-out.

Seleznev told TechCrunch that gathering logistics infrastructure has been indispensable for scaling e-commerce successful Uzbekistan, wherever third-party fulfillment providers stay limited.

“You request to put successful infrastructure yourself to present and displacement lawsuit expectations,” helium said.

Uzum plans to usage the caller backing to grow its fintech infrastructure and deepen its merchandise offerings crossed some commerce and fiscal services. The startup plans to put successful further ATMs, outgo acceptance infrastructure, and point-of-sale systems arsenic it works toward gathering a afloat integrated integer banking platform.

Seleznev said Uzum aims to spell nationalist wrong the adjacent fewer years, apt wrong 3 years, though the nonstop timeline has yet to beryllium decided. The startup has been exploring respective imaginable listing venues, including exchanges successful the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, arsenic it positions itself for planetary investors.

Uzum presently employs astir 12,500 radical arsenic it continues expanding its commerce, fintech and logistics operations crossed Uzbekistan.