Uzum’s $2.3B Valuation Shows How Uzbekistan Is Skipping Big-Box Retail

Uzum raised $131.5 million led by Oman’s sovereign wealth funds, lifting its valuation to $2.3 billion—53% higher than seven months ago. The company runs Uzbekistan’s dominant digital ecosystem, merging marketplace, banking, lending, and delivery services under one stack.

Its platform now reaches roughly 20 million users and connects 17,000 sellers. Payments volume hit $11 billion in 2025 while annual transacting users grew from 3 million to 4.6 million.

Fintech is the profit engine: Uzum Bank serves 5 million customers, issued 4.1 million debit cards (half the country’s total), and pushed $1.2 billion in consumer credit last year. Revenue reached $691 million with $176 million in net income.

Logistics is the moat. The company operates 1,500 pickup points and 125,000 square meters of warehouses today, doubling both by 2026 to support cross-border inventory from Turkey, China, and beyond.

The raise funds more fintech infrastructure, more logistics, and preparations for a $250–$300 million pre-IPO round in 2026/2027. Investors include Tencent, VR Capital, Eclipse, TDK, and TSMC’s VentureTech Alliance.

Takeaway: emerging markets can leapfrog brick-and-mortar retail entirely. Operators elsewhere should study Uzum’s full-stack approach and reassess what parts of the commerce + fintech + logistics stack they should own.