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THURSDAY, 27 AUGUST 2026 · ALMATYEN · Subscribe
The English-language home for the region's founders
Contributor
Aigerim Nurlanqyzy
Markets correspondent · Almaty
The Big Read · 22 min read
Inside Higgsfield AI: the longest profile we have published
A four-month inside view of how a Kazakh-founded generative-video company became the first global breakout from the corridor.
Founders · 9 min read
From Almaty to a $1.3 billion valuation
Higgsfield AI raised $50m, then an $80m extension — the first global breakout to carry a Kazakh origin story.
Markets · 12 min read
The data behind every venture chart you have seen this year
The numbers, the sources, the methodology, and the three figures everyone has been quoting incorrectly.
Regulation · 8 min read
Inside the AIFC's quiet bet on digital assets
A second phase of Astana's money-services framework lands in 2026, and the global crypto industry has noticed.
Markets · 12 min read
Why Kaspi rewrote distribution economics
A single super-app changed how an entire country pays, borrows and shops — and the global payments lobby is still adjusting.
Regulation · 8 min read
What the Digital Tenge actually means
Kazakhstan's central-bank digital currency, explained for outsiders.
Markets · 9 min read
Bishkek, the frontier of the frontier
Tiny checks, big tax breaks: why Kyrgyzstan rewards the patient founder.
Markets · 7 min read
Almaty crypto winter is officially over
On-chain volumes recovered through Q1 2026. The exchanges quietly hiring tell a clearer story than the price charts.
Markets · 8 min read
Why Baku is funding climate hardware
An oil-rich state is writing checks that quietly look very different from its petro-dollar past.
Markets · 9 min read
The corridor's first deep-tech fund
A $40m vehicle out of Astana takes its first three bets — and they are not what you'd expect from the region.
Founders · 8 min read
A founder, a Telegram channel, a $4m seed
Distribution before product is a tired startup adage. In Almaty it is now a fundable thesis.
Regulation · 10 min read
Stablecoins, but for utilities
A pilot in Astana is the first serious attempt to use stablecoin rails for cross-border B2B settlement at meaningful volume.