Uzbekistan’s unicorn, Uzum, has secured USD 65.5 million in its latest funding round, co-led by China’s Tencent and VR Capital from New York and London, with additional support from FinSight Capital based in the United States.
This all-equity round increases the company’s post-money valuation to around USD 1.5 billion, a 30% rise from the USD 1.16 million valuation reported in March 2024. Uzum began as an e-commerce marketplace named Uzum Market and gradually integrated fintech elements through the launch of a debit card and its express food delivery service, Uzum Tezkor. Additionally, it launched a co-branded Visa debit card with pre-approved credit limits in August 2024, aiming to issue up to 5 million cards by year-end.
More about Uzum
Initially, Uzum operated on a fulfilled-by-operator model for e-commerce deliveries. It has now expanded its services to include ecommerce, fintech, and banking solutions, including fulfilment-by-seller and delivery-by-seller options with the goal of routing 20-30% of deliveries through these new models. This expansion is expected to increase stock-keeping units.
With the recent funding, Uzum plans to launch a deposit product in September 2025 and introduce a long-term credit facility for its B2C customers. The company aims to expand its merchant base and support existing merchants by offering a QR code payment processing system, expanding its Visa debit card program, and creating new solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Uzbekistan.
Uzum also intends to introduce more products to its e-commerce business that will help generate ad revenues. It is working on growing its financial infrastructure by embedding AI across credit scoring, fraud detection, and prevention, as well as personalizing user experiences.
Moreover, the company plans to open up its e-commerce marketplace for international merchants, starting with those from China and Türkiye in September. Uzum projects that up to 15% of cross-border activity will come from these countries. In the medium term, it aims to go public, targeting a Series B funding round of USD 250 to USD 300 million for the first half of 2026.
