Road to Battlefield receives 726 startup applications across 39 countries
Silkroad Innovation Hub’s Road to Battlefield competition has received 726 applications from 39 countries in its second year, setting a record for the programme. Organised with TechCrunch, Freedom Holding, Astana Hub and IT Park Uzbekistan, the initiative will send three regional winners to TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco on October 13–15.
The volume is nearly 50% higher than the 485 applications submitted from 27 countries in the programme’s first year, 2025. National rounds for Road to Battlefield 2026 took place online from July 6 to 20, producing 22 finalists for a regional final scheduled for August 12.
AI leads the applicant pool
Artificial intelligence is the defining category in this year’s intake. Of the 726 applicants, 609—about 84%—are building AI products. The entrants span Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South Asia, and pitched online to 47 judges from eight countries, alongside AI-Dana, an AI judge acting as an independent jury member.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan each contributed six companies to the Top 22, making them the largest represented startup ecosystems in the regional final. The finalists are MoliyAI, Sino AI, Deepen, Fermopolis, Oqim App and Cerberus from Uzbekistan; Soup, CortexAI, Scano, 4sell.ai, WeGlobal AI and ZhanCare.AI from Kazakhstan; and 10 companies from Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the United States, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Qatar, Japan and Romania.
The field is predominantly early stage: 41.6% of applicants are at MVP stage and 38.6% are pre-seed, while 14.7% are seed-stage and 4.7% remain at the idea stage. The youngest applicant is 14, and 89 applicants are under 18, including seven founders from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
Funding, credits and a route to San Francisco
The regional final will select three companies for Startup Battlefield 200. The winners will share a $100,000 investment prize pool: $50,000 for first place, $30,000 for second and $20,000 for third. Astana Hub Ventures, IT Park Ventures and Silkroad Innovation Hub jointly fund the pool.
They will also receive up to $100,000 in OpenAI API credits split on the same basis, while every other Top 22 finalist will receive $10,000 in OpenAI API credits. The three winners will receive travel and accommodation for San Francisco and access to a network of more than 1,000 founders from 39 countries.
The programme follows the regional pathway outlined in regional route to Startup Battlefield 200, giving founders a structured route from national selection to a global startup stage. Its first year sent Polygraf AI, Surfaice and Investbanq to represent Central Eurasia internationally.
What the figures signal
For regional startups, the competition’s growth shows that international exposure is being built into company formation earlier, particularly for AI products. Businesses seeking to compete beyond their home market can use the finalists’ path as a practical reminder to prepare investor, customer and ecosystem connections from the earliest stages of development.