MyVentures, led by Nurlan Smagulov, is investing $3.5 million in the American fund Automotive Ventures.

The goal of international collaboration is to establish a presence in the U.S. market, seek breakthrough technologies and innovative solutions, and further implement them in the Kazakhstani market, reports Orda.kz.

https://orda.kz/myventures-nurlana-smagulova-investiruet-35-mln-v-amerikanskij-fond-automotive-ventures-397726/2025-02-05 07:31:32

“I met Steve Greenfield in the USA during a business trip in the fall of 2024. In December, he visited Kazakhstan with colleagues to participate as an expert in the corporate automotive forum organized by Astana Group. His expertise is invaluable. He reviews up to 60 startups in the automotive retail sector every month. If Steve invests in a startup, there is a 99% chance it will succeed. The opportunity to collaborate with him is already a significant advantage for our company and the country as a whole,” notes Nurlan Smagulov, founder of “Astana Motors”.

He also explained that in the USA, the IT market within the automotive business is one of the largest and fastest-growing in the world. The country is a major attraction for all startups globally. For instance, according to PitchBook, from April to June 2024, American startups raised $56 billion, which is a 57% increase compared to the previous year. This is one of the highest figures in the past two years.

The partnership between MyVentures and Automotive Ventures will help identify potentially successful startups, capture a significant share of the US market, and a successful investment outcome will bring substantial revenue to the Kazakh side.

MyVentures is an international venture fund established in 2020 by Nurlan Smagulov and Mycar.kz. It focuses on Kazakh and foreign startups in areas such as FinTech, MedTech, E-commerce, and corporate software based on artificial intelligence. Other promising directions are also considered. The fund provides not only capital but also comprehensive support to early-stage startups. MyVentures has a capital of $20 million and is designed for a duration of 10 years. The average investment size for each project ranges from $100,000 to $2 million. Over the years, the fund has invested in one of Kazakhstan's first computer vision startups, Verigram, the fintech startup Bank4me, the GoDays project (an AI-based tool that helps anticipate and prevent employee burnout), and other startups.