Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is a former Soviet Republic which gained independence in 1991. A territory roughly half the size of the United States, it stretches from China in the East to the Caspian Sea in the West. Rich in natural resources, primarily oil and metals, and poor in value-added industries, Kazakhstan realized very quickly that it would need to encourage innovation in order to decrease its reliance on exportation of natural resources. In 2003 an Innovative Industrial Development Strategy was released by presidential decree.

The strategy established a number of organizations dedicated to promoting diversification in the nation’s economy through the fostering of innovation and the support of start-up technology-based businesses. Among these organizations is the National Innovation Fund of Kazakhstan (NIF). Its mission: “to increase innovation activity in the country including promotion of high-technology and science-intensive production enterprises.”

In 2005 the National Innovation Funded contacted the IC² Institute and asked if we could help identify promising technologies that deserved backing by their grant programs and venture funds; and if we could help them launch successful technology-based start-up ventures.

Our Building Blocks for Success

In discussions with NIF, IC² senior staff determined the best way we could help NIF achieve its mission would be to:

1) identify the resources which could be tied together to support the creation and success of new start-up ventures;

2) create capacity by establishing a technology business incubator;

3) create sustainability by training incubator managers to successfully launch and operate the incubator;

4) create quick tangible results by identifying Kazakh technologies with a high degree of commercial potential to provide early successes for the new incubator.

Results after 12 Months

• Agreement reached between NIF and the Kazakh National Technical University (KazNTU) for the establishment of the “Technopark of KazNTU” technology business incubator.

• Renovation of a building in central Almaty, Kazakhstan for the incubator.

• Launching of the incubator for virtual and physical incubation of technology-based companies.

• Population of the incubator by nine start-up ventures.

• Creation of 182 jobs and XX revenues by the ventures under incubation.