Uzbekistan's AgroBank opens accelerator offering pilots and up to $500K per startup

What's the deal? AgroBankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and AgroVentures have opened applications for a 12-week corporate accelerator that will select up to 20 startups in agritech, fintech, and artificial intelligence. Participation is free, with no equity taken, and applications close on 9 November.

What's on offer? Selected teams will run at least one pilot project with AgroBank departments or its SME clients and present at a Demo Day. The program runs eight weeks in Tashkent plus four weeks of regional rollout, with each startup assigned a personal mentor. AI Station is the key partner.

What's the endgame? Teams that complete the program can attract up to $500,000 in investment. The accelerator is the first program of AgroVentures, AgroBank's $6.1 million corporate venture fund launched in September, which plans to back 60–75 companies with cheques of $25,000 to $500,000.

Who can apply? The program is open to Uzbekistan-based and international teams with at least a working prototype or MVP and two to five founders. AgroBank is looking for products useful to banks and farmers across agritech, AI, fintech, and deep tech.

The signal: By offering free pilots with a bank and its SME clients, AgroBank turns a standard mentoring cohort into a route to institutional customers — and a pipeline for its new fund. Its impact will hinge on whether pilots convert into funded companies or lasting contracts, a test the newly launched program has yet to face.

Read more: tokhum.com

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