Kazakhstan's Alem Capital Management has anchored the $25M final close of Sturgeon Capital's Emerging Opportunities II fund, marking its first publicly disclosed investment in Central Asia's startup ecosystem. Alem manages a $1B fund-of-funds — the largest of its kind in the region — and committed $5M alongside the IFC and Qazaqstan Investment Corporation. Central Asian venture capital reached $320M in 2025, with Kazakhstan alone accounting for $209M, nearly triple the prior year. Uzbekistan is the fastest-growing ecosystem, with an eleven-fold funding increase since 2022. The investment reflects a broader strategy to build institutional venture infrastructure in a region transitioning away from hydrocarbon dependence, using public capital to attract private investment in a model similar to Singapore's Temasek or Israel's Yozma programme.
