Uzum, Uzbekistan’s first “unicorn,” has announced plans for a new round of investment. When will the IPO take place?

The Uzbek fintech startup Uzum, whose investors include Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings, plans to raise another round of funding. The group aims to support its plans for aggressive expansion ahead of a potential IPO, according to Bloomberg.

Uzum plans to raise capital as part of a new investment round scheduled to take place by the end of this year, the company’s founder and CEO, Jasur Dzhumayev, said in an interview with Bloomberg. According to him, an IPO could be possible within the next two to three years. “An IPO will give early-stage investors the opportunity to receive a market valuation of their shares,” Jumayev emphasized.

Uzum has successfully capitalized on Uzbekistan’s rapid economic growth and its young population (more than half of the country’s approximately 38 million residents are under 30), offering a wide range of services: from digital banking to food delivery, Bloomberg notes. If the current growth trajectory continues, Uzum could become the country’s largest digital bank, Dzhumaev says.

Over the past two years, Uzum has raised funds through several rounds of financing from investors. Uzum became Chinese IT giant Tencent’s first technology investment in a company from Uzbekistan. The most recent round, which took place in March, valued the company at $2.3 billion by mid-June.

Following several rounds of funding, outside investors have acquired a 15% stake in Uzum, the company’s co-founder and chief strategy officer, Nikolai Seleznev, told Bloomberg. The founders retain just under 50%, partners who contributed assets during the company’s early stages hold approximately 30%, and employees hold about 5%.

Although Uzum generates about $200 million in revenue per year, its expansion is not funded solely by retained earnings, as the company strives to strike a balance between profitability and growth, Seleznev explained.

While continuing to raise capital from investors, Uzum is also turning to bank loans and the local capital market to support its expansion. Local bonds currently account for about 20% of the company’s financing. This instrument is attractive because it provides working capital for Uzum’s lending business, according to Bloomberg. According to Seleznev, the company also plans to enter the Eurobond market by the end of the year.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor