The value of Uzbekistan’s Grapes has increased by more than 50% in seven months to $2.3 billion

Uzbekistan fintech Grapes It was valued at $2.3 billion — up nearly 53% from seven months ago — as investors placed increasing bets on the country’s emerging digital economy.

The valuation comes from a $131.5 million investment led by Oman’s sovereign wealth funds, with participation from existing investors including Tencent, VR Capital and FinSight Ventures. This round is $81.5 million in equity and $50 million in convertible financing tied to Grape’s next funding round, as the startup aims to raise $250 million to $300 million before an IPO in the second half of 2026 or early 2027.

Grapes in August It raised $65.5 million worth $1.5 billion. had become the country’s first unicorn (a startup that crosses one billion dollars) in March 2024.

This new investment comes as Uzbekistan emerges as Central Asia’s most populous country it is one of the fastest growing digital economies in the regiondriven by a young population, rapid smartphone adoption and low penetration of online retail and banking services.

Founded in 2022, Uzum quickly became Uzbekistan’s leading “digital ecosystem,” as it describes its business, integrating e-commerce, payments and consumer lending.

Building Uzbekistan’s digital ecosystem

Uzum started with Uzum Market, an e-commerce marketplace, and has since expanded into financial services through Uzum Bank, its digital banking arm, and Uzum Nasiya, a consumer credit platform. The startup also operates Uzum Tezkoru, a fast food delivery service, as part of its strategy to build an integrated ecosystem spanning commerce, payments and banking.

Grape during the previous funding round in August 2025 informed more than 17 million monthly active users on its platform. Today, the ecosystem reaches about 20 million users – more than half of the adult population of Uzbekistan. Its marketplace connects more than 17,000 local sellers and services across the ecosystem are expected to process approximately $11 billion in payments by 2025. The number of users making annual transactions has increased from about 3 million a year ago to about 4.6 million in 2025.

Chief executive Djasur Djumaev said Uzbekistan’s retail sector could evolve unlike many other markets, and e-commerce played a central role in this change.

“We’ve mentioned before that e-commerce is something that will evolve into retail,” Cumaev told TechCrunch. “This will leapfrog the traditional retail stage in the country, moving directly from markets and informal trade to digital trade.”

Fintech increases profitability

Along with its expanding ecosystem, Uzum’s financial performance has also increased. The startup reported revenue of $691 million in 2025, up from $505 million a year earlier, while net income rose to $176 million from $150 million. The company says its e-commerce marketplace generated $500 million in gross merchandise value and reached EBITDA profitability after three years of operation.

Nikolai Seleznev, Uzum’s general director of strategy and business development, said that the startup’s fintech operations remain the main source of profitability within the ecosystem.

Uzum’s digital bank currently serves nearly 5 million customers and issued 4.1 million debit cards in 2025, which is about half of all cards issued in Uzbekistan that year. The startup’s unsecured loan book has grown to $400 million, and the total amount of funding – the amount of loans issued through its platform – will reach $1.2 billion in 2025. In addition, the startup expects to add another 5 million banking customers over the next year as it expands its lending and payment services.

Uzum is also expanding its market beyond local sellers by implementing cross-border trade, which allows Uzbek consumers to order products directly from international merchants. The startup said the initiative added about 200 million stock keeping units (SKUs) from markets including Turkey and China. In addition to international inventory, the platform works with local sellers that provide approximately 1.5 million products available for next-day delivery.

To support this growth, Uzum is investing heavily in logistics and physical infrastructure in Uzbekistan. The startup currently operates around 1,500 pickup points across the country and plans to expand the network to around 3,000 locations by 2026. In addition, the startup currently manages about 125,000 square meters of warehouse space and plans to expand it to about 500,000 square meters, using the four logistics centers that are currently part of the logistics construction.

Seleznev told TechCrunch that building a logistics infrastructure was essential to expanding e-commerce in Uzbekistan, where third-party providers remain limited.

“You have to invest in the infrastructure yourself to deliver and change customer expectations,” he said.

Uzum plans to use the new funding to expand its fintech infrastructure and deepen its product offerings in both commerce and financial services. The startup plans to invest in additional ATMs, payment acceptance infrastructure and point-of-sale systems as it works towards building a fully integrated digital banking platform.

Seleznev said Uzum aims to go public within the next few years, possibly three years, although an exact timeline has yet to be decided. As the startup positions itself for global investors, it is exploring a number of potential listing locations, including exchanges in the US, Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Uzum currently employs around 12,500 people as it continues to expand its trading, fintech and logistics operations in Uzbekistan.