\n By Tomiris Bilyal\n<\/p>\n
\n Published on 26\/11\/2025 – 15:00 GMT+1
\n \u2022Updated
\n 27\/11\/2025 – 11:21 GMT+1\n <\/p>\n
Today, women are stepping into the tech sector from all kinds of backgrounds. Their journeys show just how rapidly Central Asia is evolving and highlight the women leading this new wave of change.<\/p>\n
One of the pioneers driving this shift is Assem Bolatzhan, who moved from the financial sector to IT in 2015 through the Digital Kazakhstan programme.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe launched the Women in Tech chapter in Kazakhstan because we need to be part of a global community. After all, Women in Tech globally has 65 chapters around the world,\u201d says Bolatzhan.<\/p>\n
According to Rinata Ilyubayeva, Women in Tech Astana lead, nearly 60% of women-led startups in Kazakhstan focus on social impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost female startups are in EdTech, HealthTech, and solutions for children with autism, elderly people, and pregnant women. This highlights societal challenges that technology can address,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n
According to the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan, women\u2019s participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in Kazakhstan is estimated at around 25\u201330%, mirroring the global average. The next challenge is increasing the number of female startup founders and venture capital investors in the region.<\/p>\n
The first female-focused VC in Central Asia<\/p>\n
Kazakhstan\u2019s female leaders are now building the foundations for a new investment culture. This year, they united to create Central Asia\u2019s first female-focused venture capital initiative.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are building a platform for negotiations, fundraising and business development to support women, because it\u2019s not always easy,\u201d says Ilyubayeva, CEO of Al-Farabi Innovation Hub Dubai and Women in Tech Astana lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou come home after work and have children to care for, cooking, cleaning and family expectations. In our traditional society, we constantly negotiate with relatives and the husband\u2019s family. Then the next morning, you return to work as a C-level decision-maker. It\u2019s mentally exhausting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Juggling motherhood and career<\/p>\n
Women in Tech Kazakhstan also focuses on empowering women entering tech from diverse fields, such as finance, education, diplomacy, or traditional small businesses.<\/p>\n
One example is Aigerim Nurgaliyeva, a serial entrepreneur who transitioned from running a conventional business to building startups. Her first challenge was overcoming the belief that she could not succeed in tech without a technical background.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first obstacle was in my mind. I believed that if you don\u2019t have a tech background, there\u2019s no place for you here. Many girls still think this way,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cEcosystems like Astana Hub and Women in Tech help change that mindset. You can build a startup without coding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, Aigerim is bootstrapping her second startup while balancing motherhood and multiple businesses. Her story shows that ambition, resourcefulness, and supportive networks can overcome barriers, proving that tech entrepreneurship is accessible even without formal technical education.<\/p>\n
Kazakhstan\u2019s female tech leaders are not only transforming their country\u2014they are positioning Central Asia as a rising hub for innovation and female-driven entrepreneurship. By combining innovation with social impact, they are creating a model for the next generation of women in tech across the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Tomiris Bilyal Published on 26\/11\/2025 – 15:00 GMT+1 \u2022Updated 27\/11\/2025 – 11:21 GMT+1 Today, women are stepping into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[138,336,18292,35272,111,139,69,145,2248],"class_list":{"0":"post-158829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-entrepreneurship","10":"tag-kazakhstan","11":"tag-new-technologies","12":"tag-new-zealand","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nz","15":"tag-technology","16":"tag-women"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}