Astana Hub — International Technopark of IT Start-ups

Astana Hub was established on 6 November 2018 by presidential decree under Kazakhstan's Digital Kazakhstan programme, positioning the government-backed technopark as the country's flagship vehicle for attracting international IT talent and building a Central Asian startup ecosystem. Residents receive a ten-year special tax regime with zero corporate income tax, VAT and social tax, alongside pre-acceleration and acceleration support.

The technopark expanded beyond Astana through 18 regional IT hubs, which have generated 450 startup ideas and brought in 186 additional resident companies. Its Silkway Accelerator has supported 62 startups from across Central Eurasia, and in May 2024 Astana Hub launched a $10 million venture fund, Astana Hub Ventures, aiming for 20 portfolio companies and Kazakhstan's first technology unicorn by 2027.

By the end of 2024, Astana Hub had 1,600 registered resident companies, including more than 425 with foreign participation from over 25 countries. Residents generated $1.3 billion in total revenue and $481.5 million in IT-service exports in 2024 (up 52% year-on-year), attracted $177 million in investment (up 40% on 2023), and the park reports 28,000 new tech-sector jobs created since inception. StartupBlink ranked Astana Hub the leading startup ecosystem in Central Asia and in the global top 75 for 2025.

Astana Hub illustrates how a single tax-incentivised technopark, backed by sustained state investment (about $28.9 million since inception), can catalyse rapid growth in a national tech sector, though its performance figures are drawn primarily from the park's own reporting and allied media rather than independent audit.