“Best Startup Idea” Competition to Be Held
2026-02-12 18:05:00 / News of ministry
Starting from the 2026/2027 academic year, secondary specialized and vocational education institutions, as well as students in grades 9–11 of general secondary schools, will hold at least two monthly “Skills and Business Hour” sessions aimed at teaching students how to develop startup ideas.
Under this initiative:
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a “Best Startup Idea” competition will be organized, with prizes of up to 5 million UZS at the district level and up to 10 million UZS at the regional level;
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projects will be presented quarterly to parents, business representatives, and the scientific community;
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cooperation with marketplaces will be established to facilitate the sale of products developed within educational institutions.
From April 1, 2026, a crowdsourcing-based system for addressing challenges will be introduced. Government bodies and state-owned enterprises will post problem statements on an electronic crowdsourcing platform, organize solution competitions, and conduct monthly “Startup Day” meetings with startup initiators.
“Most Innovative Idea” National Competition
Beginning in 2026, an annual national competition titled “Most Innovative Idea” will be held to identify ideas with high startup potential.
The competition will be conducted at state higher education institutions. Winners will receive grants of 100 million UZS. The national stage will cover 10 areas, with a total prize fund of 10 billion UZS financed by the Science Financing and Innovation Support Fund.
“Universities as Startup Generators” Program
From September 1, 2026, higher education institutions will implement the “Universities as Startup Generators” program. Within this framework:
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student accelerators will be introduced in cooperation with IT parks and venture funds;
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internship and exchange programs with leading international accelerators and universities will be launched;
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universities will be granted the right to invest up to the equivalent of USD 20,000 per project in promising startup initiatives of students and researchers through incubation centers and student accelerators;
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positions of “startup manager” and “startup tracker” will be established.
“Young Entrepreneurs” Championship
From 2026, the annual “Young Entrepreneurs” championship will be organized to identify and support the best youth business and startup projects.
According to the results:
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up to 100 projects will each receive investments of up to 1 billion UZS from the State Fund for Youth Entrepreneurship Development and the “Yoshlar Ventures” venture fund;
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expert services in finance and marketing will be covered up to 100 times the base calculation amount;
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winners will be nominated for state awards and honorary badges.
Starting April 1, 2026, startup projects participating in the “Raqamli startaplar” program will receive resident status at IT Park Uzbekistan and will be eligible for applicable benefits and preferences without minimum export requirements.
From 2026 onward, the annual “Startup Expo” exhibition will be held.