Run Founder Institute in Uzbekistan with a corporate demand engine attached to it.
AI Station is Uzbekistan's AI education and venture hub — AI Academy, Corporate Innovation, Studio and AIS Ventures. We want to be your local partner here. Your model stays exactly as it is; we add a layer that sources real corporate problems, gets them piloted, and has corporates pay for the programme.
Your equity model, unchanged
The layer we add
A free, capped intake each batch. Their one binding commitment: if we bring a credible solution, the relevant business unit runs a real pilot.
Founders apply against named corporate demand instead of their own guesswork.
Your curriculum, your mentors, your standards — delivered locally by our team.
A pilot that converts into a signed commercial contract makes the startup eligible for AIS Ventures investment on a pre-agreed valuation cap.
Why this is worth more to FI than a standard chapter
- Graduates with revenue, not just decks. A signed corporate contract is the traction that makes a portfolio worth holding.
- Stronger applicant pool. Published corporate problems attract operators, not idea-stage hobbyists.
- The 1% is worth more. Survival rates rise when a startup leaves with a paying customer already inside a bank.
- The chapter funds itself. Corporates cover delivery, so the programme does not depend on founder fees or donor money.
Where the money comes from — corporates, not founders
Each batch targets an indicative $100K from corporate memberships, VC memberships and batch sponsorships. That covers the cost of running the batch.
Submit problems, capped per batch. Commit to a pilot if we source a solution. No cost, no guarantee.
Per-batch contribution. Priority on which problems get selected, and a guaranteed number of pilots.
In-house diagnostics, AI-literacy sessions for their teams, more guaranteed pilots per batch.
Three dials we would set together
Corporate money covers delivery. FI can take a fixed share of it per batch, a flat licence fee, or none at all — whichever fits how you treat chapter income.
Our corporate-demand track can carry a small phased warrant, or run at zero extra dilution on top of the 2.5%. We would rather protect the cap table than defend a number.
AIS Ventures anchors each round with a small check on a pre-agreed cap. FI-network investors can follow at the same terms, with no separate negotiation.
What we bring, what we would need from you
- We bring: corporate relationships across banking, government and enterprise — built through the Agrobank AgroVentures accelerator, the Aloqa Bank Fintech Bootcamp and the Central Bank's national fintech roadmap.
- We bring: a delivery team in Tashkent, pilot access inside real business units, and AIS Ventures capital at graduation.
- We would need: chapter rights for Uzbekistan, the curriculum and programme playbook, access to your mentor and investor network, and local leader designation.
- Worth discussing: whether a working Uzbekistan chapter becomes the template for Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.
Next step
Agree the three dials, and set a target date for the first cohort.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Batch budgets, tier pricing and any pilot-track equity shown here are illustrative starting points still being refined internally — not final terms.