Uzum’s Impressive Growth and Funding
In a world increasingly divided between East and West, Uzbekistan stands out as a beacon of opportunity. The country’s homegrown unicorn, Uzum, has successfully raised $65.5 million in a recent funding round led by China’s Tencent and New York- and London-based VR Capital. U.S.-based FinSight Capital also participated in this all-equity round, boosting the company’s valuation to approximately $1.5 billion, a significant increase from the $1.16 billion valuation it recorded when it achieved unicorn status in March 2022.
Uzum’s Journey and Offerings
Founded in 2022, Uzum began its operations with an e-commerce platform called Uzum Market. Following its initial success, the company diversified into fintech by launching a debit card and subsequently rolled out its food delivery service, Uzum Tezkor.
- Uzum features over 17 million monthly active users, nearly half of Uzbekistan’s adult population.
- It boasts 16,000 merchant partnerships.
- In the first half of 2025, Uzum recorded $250 million in gross merchandise value, marking a 1.5 times year-over-year growth.
Additionally, its digital banking division, Uzum Bank, launched a Visa debit card with pre-approved credit limits in August 2022. This product has already seen the issuance of 2 million cards, with expectations to exceed 5 million by the end of the year. In the first quarter, Uzum’s unsecured lending sector reached $200 million in financing, a 3.4 times increase compared to the same period the previous year. Moreover, the company reported a net income of $150 million in 2024, reflecting a 50% increase from the prior year.
Key to Success
How has Uzum, a company just over three years old, achieved such rapid success and attracted global investors like Tencent? According to Uzum’s founder and CEO, Djasur Djumaev, the secret lies in a combination of deep local understanding and disciplined execution. He emphasizes the importance of grasping the country’s cultural dynamics, consumer behavior, and business environment, complemented by the technical and operational expertise of global corporations.
Infrastructure and Growth Strategies
Uzum has developed its digital and physical infrastructure from the ground up in Uzbekistan, establishing logistics capacity of over 112,000 square meters and storage space of 1.1 million square feet to manage more than 200,000 orders daily. The company has also created over 1,500 pickup points across 450 locations, facilitating next-day deliveries and the distribution of Uzum Bank cards.
Djumaev stated, “Betting on local expertise and infrastructure in frontier markets gives you an advantage to then perform and scale your business very fast.”
Initially using a fulfilled-by-operator model for deliveries, Uzum has recently expanded to include fulfilled-by-seller and delivery-by-seller options. The implementation of these new delivery models aims to handle 20-30% of deliveries through them, which will enhance its stock-keeping units (SKUs) to over 1.5 million, up from 600,000 last March.
Future Developments
Uzum’s Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer, Nikolay Seleznev, shared that the company’s strong growth impressed Tencent, leading to their investment after months of discussions.
The startup plans to enhance its fintech offerings with a deposit product launching in September and a long-term credit option for B2C customers. Additionally, it aims to grow its merchant network and introduce a QR code payment processing system. Uzum will also expand its Visa debit card program and develop new products to assist small and medium enterprises.
Furthermore, Uzum is working on enhancing its e-commerce business, particularly focusing on advertising revenue generation. Plans include increasing its financial infrastructure, integrating AI for credit scoring, fraud protection, and personalized user experiences. In September, the platform will open its marketplace to international merchants, beginning with participants from China and Turkey, expecting 10-15% of cross-border activity from these countries.
Workforce and Future Plans
Uzum employs over 12,000 individuals, comprising blue-collar workers at pickup points as well as tech and engineering teams. Like many successful businesses in this sector, Uzum is on a path to profitability and aims to go public in the medium term. Before that, the company anticipates raising a Series B round of funding between $250 million and $300 million in the first half of 2026. To date, Uzum has secured a total of $137 million in equity funding, including this latest round.
