KMF Microfinance Institution and KMF-Demeu Corporate Fund group of companies signed an agreement to invest $2 million in the capital of MOST Ventures Fund. According to the agreement, MOST Ventures will apply these funds to start-ups of young entrepreneurs specializing in the financial IT solutions.
According to Shalkar Zhussupov, CEO of KMF, the agreement gives an opportunity to support young fintech talents in the countries of Central Asia, primarily in Kazakhstan.
“We have been cooperating with MOST Holding for more than five years, starting with the support of the MOST business incubator. Today we are partnering with this venture fund, as its effective development model involves training and support for startups. KMF and KMF-Demeu Corporate Fund, thus, are implementing one of their social missions – to support and develop talented youth. Today’s agreement with MOST Ventures is the next step in the development of our social endeavors,” said Shalkar Zhussupov, CEO of KMF.
According to MOST Holding, which includes a business incubator, an accelerator and a venture fund, every third application in the funnel comes from fintech startups. The new partnership will allow the best teams to test and improve their solutions based on KMF’s extensive infrastructure. A noteworthy detail is that both companies are pioneers in their industries. KMF was one of the first to start providing financial support to entrepreneurs back in 1997 through the disbursement of microloans, while MOST Ventures, in turn, has become a groundbreaker in the field of venture capital in Kazakhstan, helping startups receive direct investments for the development of their projects.
According to Alim Khamitov, Managing Partner at MOST Ventures, KMF is the first institutional player to enter the fund, which gives a positive signal to the entire Kazakhstan venture investment market.
Alim Khamitov, Managing Partner of MOST Ventures: “In 2011, we started as a business incubator and it was a private story all the way through. In 2020, we founded the first private venture fund, which was contributed by experienced investors with capital. Now we have KMF alongside, and we are glad that technology is becoming one of the key priorities for Kazakhstan companies. We are sure that this partnership will open the way for startups to create, test and scale their products faster.”
