Tencent Heads $70M Investment in Uzum, Valuing the Company at $1.5 Billion
Uzum Secures $70 Million in Funding, Solidifying Its Position as Uzbekistan's Leading Digital Ecosystem
Uzum, Uzbekistan's leading digital ecosystem, has secured nearly $70 million in equity financing, solidifying its position as the country's foremost tech unicorn with a valuation of approximately $1.5 billion.
The funding round was participated by Tencent, VR Capital, FinSight Ventures, and VR Capital as the lead investor. This significant investment marks a significant increase in Uzum's valuation, bringing the company's post-money valuation to approximately $1.5 billion.
Uzum now serves over 17 million monthly active users, encompassing more than half of Uzbekistan's population, and has become a critical growth engine for over 40,000 merchants and small businesses, generating more than 12,000 jobs in the process.
The company's core business units—Uzum Market (digital marketplace), Uzum Tezkor (express delivery), and Uzum Bank (financial services)—have reinforced their dominance in the local market. Notably, Uzum Market and Tezkor reported a 50% year-on-year increase in combined gross merchandise value (GMV), highlighting robust commercial expansion. The company has also issued over 2 million Visa debit cards in the first half of 2025, reflecting the rapid scale-up of its fintech offerings.
Uzum Bank, the company's digital banking unit, is now the fastest-growing bank in Uzbekistan. The synergy across Uzum's diverse verticals has improved unit economics, reduced delinquency, and lifted customer satisfaction and retention. Uzum's consumer credit business has more than tripled its total financed volume in the first half of 2025.
The fresh capital infusion, led by Tencent and VR Capital, is earmarked to accelerate Uzum's next growth phase, focusing on deepening and expanding its FinTech infrastructure. This includes embedding advanced AI-powered credit scoring, fraud prevention, lending, and deposit products more tightly into both consumer and merchant journeys. Uzum aims to reduce transactional friction, personalize engagement, and improve financial inclusion, particularly targeting underserved rural and peri-urban populations.
Strategically, Uzum is positioned not only as Uzbekistan’s digital ecosystem leader but also as a gateway to the broader Central Asian market of approximately 70 million people. This regional expansion opportunity aligns with Uzbekistan’s ongoing digitalization reforms and the Belt and Road Initiative influence, with Tencent leveraging Uzum as its entry point into Central Asia’s untapped fintech potential.
FinSight Ventures believes Uzum represents one of the most compelling fintech and e-commerce growth stories in Central Asia. Alexey Garyunov of FinSight Ventures is excited to double down on their investment in Uzum due to the company's remarkable milestones and synergy across diverse verticals. VR Capital, a global alternative asset management firm with over $8 billion in assets under management, operating via its principal offices in New York and London, is deeply impressed by Uzum's proven business model and first-mover advantage in a structurally underserved market.
Tencent, a world-leading internet and technology company listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, has joined as a new shareholder in Uzum, voting a confidence in the company's strategy to integrate financial services directly within Uzbekistan's largest e-commerce infrastructure. Djasur Djumaev, Founder and CEO of Uzum, is excited to deepen Uzum's fintech offerings and expand its leadership in digital banking and lending.
In summary, Uzum's current market position is that of the dominant digital ecosystem in Uzbekistan with rapid user and transaction growth, established market leadership in e-commerce and fintech, and strong backing to expand regionally with advanced technology-driven financial services.
- The substantial investment by Tencent, VR Capital, FinSight Ventures, and VR Capital as the lead investor will be used to accelerate Uzum's next growth phase, focusing on integrating advanced AI-powered credit scoring, fraud prevention, lending, and deposit products more tightly into both consumer and merchant journeys.
- With its core business units—Uzum Market, Uzum Tezkor, Uzum Bank—dominating the local market, Uzum now aims to reduce transactional friction, personalize engagement, and improve financial inclusion, particularly targeting underserved rural and peri-urban populations, positioning itself as a leader in both business and technology within Uzbekistan and aiming to expand regionally.
