Plug and Play × Khokimiyat of Bukhara × UGL Holding · 2026
Bukhara Digital Silk Road
"The ancient Silk Road made Bukhara a centre of the world. We are building the next one."
A 12-month national innovation programme operated by Plug and Play — the world's most active innovation platform, with 550+ corporate partners. Together with the Khokimiyat of Bukhara as executive partner and UGL Holding as programme investor, we transform the region's most ambitious students into investor-ready companies.
The Opportunity
Bukhara is ready for its next chapter.
Bukhara is one of Central Asia's most historically significant cities — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a crossroads of culture, trade, and knowledge for over two millennia. Today, its universities produce thousands of talented graduates each year. What has been missing is a structured pathway from student to founder.
The Khokimiyat of Bukhara is investing in building that pathway. By partnering with Plug and Play, Bukhara gains access to the world's most proven startup methodology, a global mentor network, and the same platform that has helped launch companies like PayPal, Dropbox, and LendingClub.
Bukhara Digital Silk Road is not just a programme — it is the foundation of a new innovation ecosystem for the region, designed to produce companies that can compete on the global stage.
Talent without a pathway
Bukhara's universities produce thousands of graduates each year. Without structured support, most entrepreneurial potential goes untapped — no mentorship, no funding access, no ecosystem to plug into.
A world-class incubation infrastructure
Plug and Play brings its globally validated methodology — phase-gated, mentor-driven, investor-connected — and deploys it locally in Bukhara, with full programme management from day one.
100 companies. 25 investor-ready. 5 global.
By month 12, Bukhara will have a cohort of 25 accelerated, investor-ready startups, 15 of which pitch publicly at the Plug and Play Bukhara Expo.
About Plug and Play
The world's most active innovation platform.
Founded in Silicon Valley, Plug and Play has spent 20 years building the infrastructure that connects startups, corporations, and governments. Our Central Asia team is on the ground in Uzbekistan, with a proven track record of delivering national-scale programmes in the region.
Alumni of our global programmes include PayPal, Dropbox, LendingClub, Honey, and hundreds of other companies that have gone on to reshape their industries. We bring that same platform to Bukhara.
Programme Overview
12 months. 3 phases. One mission.
A rigorous stage-gate model where resources intensify as the cohort narrows. Every selection month is a structured jury review — teams receive written feedback regardless of outcome.
3 offline hub weeks + 9 online weeks. 3 mentors fly in each month.
3 offline hub weeks + 9 online weeks. PnP Ventures exposure.
3 offline hub weeks + 9 online weeks. Delivered via IT Park contract.
Demo Day
Held in Bukhara. The region's most visible startup moment.
Incubation + Pre-Acceleration
- UGL Holding — programme investor, with equity participation in each startup
- Khokimiyat of Bukhara — executive partner, all venues provided
- Call for Applications & selection of 100 teams (M1)
- 3-month Incubation programme — 100 teams (M2–4)
- Gate I jury review — 100 → 50 teams (M5)
- 3-month Pre-Acceleration — 50 teams (M6–8)
- Gate II jury review — 50 → 25 teams (M9)
- 20+ international mentors + 1 tracker per startup
- Turnkey programme management (A–Z)
Acceleration + Bukhara Expo
- 3-month Acceleration for top 25 teams (M10–12)
- Plug and Play Bukhara Expo — 15 teams pitch (M12)
- Enabled by PnP's existing 3-year IT Park contract
- No additional cost to Khokimiyat of Bukhara
Phase 1 · Months 2–4
Incubation
evaluated on team, problem clarity & sector fit
written feedback to all applicants
Customer Discovery & Problem Framing
Teams identify real user pain points through structured empathy work. Each team conducts a minimum of 50 customer interviews and maps validated problem statements before advancing.
50+ customer interviews completedTeam Formation & Legal Setup
Students formalise into co-founder teams of 3–4. Founder agreements, equity splits, and skill-gap mapping completed. Teams register entities and set operating principles.
Founder agreements signedPrototype & Market Validation
Teams build a functional first prototype and run initial market tests — landing pages, click-through experiments, or pre-order campaigns — to gather quantifiable demand signals.
Functional prototype + 100+ signals (LOIs / waitlist)Business Model & Unit Economics
Teams complete a Business Model Canvas, define their revenue model, and calculate first-pass unit economics. Global competitor landscape analysis completed.
BMC completed · Unit economics defined| Day | Session | Format | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Programme Orientation & Team Alignment | Plenary | 2 hrs |
| Day 1 | Workshop: Customer Empathy Mapping | Groups of 25 | 2.5 hrs |
| Day 1 | Masterclass: Problem-Solution Fit Fundamentals Delivered by international mentor | Plenary | 1.5 hrs |
| Day 2 | Field Day: Customer Interview Sprint | In the field | 4 hrs |
| Day 2 | Debrief & Evidence Synthesis | Groups of 25 | 2 hrs |
| Day 3 | Workshop: Business Model Canvas | Groups of 25 | 2 hrs |
| Day 3 | Pitch Practice: 3-Minute Problem Statement | Teams present | 2 hrs |
| Day 3 | Mentor Office Hours (1:1 per team) | 1:1 | 2 hrs |
Phase 2 · Months 6–8
Pre-Acceleration
scored on: problem-solution fit, customer evidence, prototype quality
MVP Development & User Testing
Teams refine prototypes into market-ready MVPs through iterative user testing cycles. A minimum of 50 user tests conducted per team, with documented product iterations.
Market-ready MVP · 50+ user testsGo-to-Market & Revenue Strategy
Teams design and execute their first GTM strategy. Focus on acquiring paying customers, establishing growth channels, and hitting verifiable Month-over-Month growth above 10%.
First paying customers · >10% MoM growthFinancial Modelling & Investment Readiness
Teams build 3-year financial models, define funding requirements, and prepare investor data rooms. Plug and Play Ventures introduced for early feedback on investment thesis.
3-year model · Data room preparedInvestor Pitch & Storytelling
Teams craft investor-grade pitch decks and practice live delivery with structured mentor feedback. Three full pitch rehearsals conducted before Gate II jury review.
Investor deck · 3 rehearsals completed| Day | Session | Format | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Masterclass: GTM Strategy & Sales Fundamentals Delivered by international mentor | Plenary | 1.5 hrs |
| Day 1 | Workshop: Customer Acquisition & Retention Metrics | Groups of 25 | 2.5 hrs |
| Day 1 | Mentor Office Hours — Revenue & Pricing Strategy | 1:1 | 2 hrs |
| Day 2 | Financial Modelling Workshop | Groups of 25 | 3 hrs |
| Day 2 | Investor Deck Review — First Draft Critique | Teams present | 2 hrs |
| Day 2 | PnP Ventures Fireside — What Investors Look For | Plenary | 1 hr |
| Day 3 | Pitch Rehearsal Round 1 (5-min pitch + Q&A) | Teams present | 3 hrs |
| Day 3 | Workshop: Handling Investor Objections | Groups of 25 | 1.5 hrs |
| Day 3 | Structured Written Feedback Delivery | 1:1 per team | 1.5 hrs |
Phase 3 · Months 10–12
Acceleration
scored on: MVP quality, market traction, financial model, growth metrics
VC Readiness & Fundraising
Teams complete investor-grade data rooms, refine their fundraising thesis, and build a qualified investor pipeline. Mock due diligence sessions conducted with PnP Ventures and external investors.
Data room complete · Investor pipeline builtScaling & Unit Economics Optimisation
Teams identify scalable growth channels, optimise unit economics, and model their path to Series A. Revenue benchmarks, CAC/LTV ratios, and 18-month growth plans finalised.
Profitable unit economics · 18-month growth modelCorporate & Global Partnerships
Teams access PnP's global corporate partner network — 500+ member companies across 12 sectors. Warm introductions brokered to relevant corporates for pilots, distribution, and strategic investment.
Minimum 3 corporate intros per teamDemo Day Preparation
The final phase builds toward a world-class Demo Day pitch. Teams produce a 7-minute investor presentation, a 2-page company summary, and a live product demo. Three full rehearsals conducted before selection.
Demo Day pitch · Product demo · Company summary| Day | Session | Format | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Masterclass: Scaling a Startup from Regional to Global Delivered by international VC or operator mentor | Plenary | 1.5 hrs |
| Day 1 | Workshop: Corporate Deal Structuring & Pilot Agreements | Groups of 12 | 2.5 hrs |
| Day 1 | Mentor Office Hours — Fundraising Strategy & Term Sheet Prep | 1:1 | 2 hrs |
| Day 2 | Investor Simulation: 7-min Pitch + 8-min Live Q&A | Teams present | 3.5 hrs |
| Day 2 | Written Scorecard Debrief & Coaching | 1:1 per team | 2 hrs |
| Day 3 | Demo Day Full Rehearsal (7 min + product demo) | Teams present | 3 hrs |
| Day 3 | Workshop: Handling Investor Due Diligence | Plenary | 1.5 hrs |
| Day 3 | 1:1 Mentor Coaching — Global Expansion Roadmap | 1:1 | 1.5 hrs |
Phase Gates
How teams advance — and how we decide.
At the end of each phase, a joint jury of PnP and Khokimiyat representatives evaluates every team on a standardised scorecard. Only teams demonstrating genuine progress advance. All teams receive individual written feedback within 5 business days, regardless of outcome.
Incubation Exit Review
Pre-Acceleration Exit Review
Acceleration Exit Review
Mentors
World-class expertise, delivered locally.
Bukhara 100 draws from Plug and Play's global mentor network of 3,000+ practitioners. Every startup receives dedicated 1:1 attention — one regional tracker per team, one hour per week, plus rotating international specialists across all three phases.
Timo Stelzer
Chief Information Officer driving AI adoption and digital transformation across Mercedes-Benz North American R&D operations.
Paul Smith
Commercial leader at Anthropic, driving enterprise AI adoption globally across government and Fortune 500 clients.
Gianna M. Lengyel
Heads global business development at Mistral AI, building strategic partnerships for frontier language model deployment.
Sherry Karamdashti
Manages AWS's North American startup partnerships programme, helping early-stage companies scale infrastructure and reach enterprise customers.
Jacob Loewenstein
Drives AI product partnerships at NVIDIA, connecting startups with GPU compute resources and the broader AI ecosystem.
Eva Wang
Partner at AI Fund, Andrew Ng's venture studio. Invests in and builds foundational AI companies across healthcare, enterprise, and education.
Dr. Christian Knörle
Leads Porsche's internal venture building and innovation programmes — taking new concepts from ideation through market launch.
Claudia Berti
Drives global innovation at Barilla Group, building partnerships with startups to modernise one of the world's largest food companies.
Jennifer Elftmann
Director at Walmart driving new business development and retail technology partnerships at one of the world's largest enterprises.
Benedikt Schaumann
Leads Nestlé's internal acceleration programmes, scaling startup partnerships and new product initiatives across global markets.
Carlos Spada
Head of Product at Revolut, Europe's leading fintech with 40M+ customers. Expert in scaling consumer financial products globally.
Gabrielle Haessig
Managing Director at P&G overseeing strategic business units. Expert in innovation strategy and brand scaling across global consumer markets.
Ronja Stoffregen
Leads Decathlon's global startup engagement programme, identifying and integrating emerging sports and retail technology ventures.
Guillermo Marcet
CEO of Open Innovation, designing and running structured corporate innovation programmes in partnership with startup ecosystems globally.
* Participation of all named individuals is subject to their availability, internal policies, and interest at time of programme delivery.
Commercial Offer
What Bukhara Gets
A transparent breakdown of all deliverables — UGL Holding funds the programme as investor with equity participation in each startup, the Khokimiyat of Bukhara leads as executive partner, and Plug and Play's IT Park Uzbekistan partnership delivers the acceleration stage — roughly $300,000 in additional value — at no extra cost to Bukhara.
| Deliverable | Scope | Included |
|---|---|---|
| Call for Applications & Selection — 300–400 applicants → 100 teams | Khokimiyat & UGL Holding Contract | ✓ |
| Incubation programme — 3 months, 100 teams, 3 offline hub weeks | Khokimiyat & UGL Holding Contract | ✓ |
| Gate I jury review — 100 → 50 teams, written feedback to all | Khokimiyat & UGL Holding Contract | ✓ |
| Pre-Acceleration programme — 3 months, 50 teams, 3 offline hub weeks | Khokimiyat & UGL Holding Contract | ✓ |
| Gate II jury review — 50 → 25 teams, written feedback to all | Khokimiyat & UGL Holding Contract | ✓ |
| 20+ international mentors + 1 regional tracker per startup (1 hr/week) | Khokimiyat & UGL Holding Contract | ✓ |
| Full programme management A–Z — dedicated in-country PnP team | Khokimiyat & UGL Holding Contract | ✓ |
| Acceleration programme — 3 months, top 25 teams (M10–12) | IT Park Uzbekistan Partnership | ✓ |
| Plug and Play Bukhara Expo — 15 teams on main stage, 25 at booths | IT Park Uzbekistan Partnership | ✓ |
| Event venues — hub weeks, Expo, and all programme events | Provided by Khokimiyat | ✓ |
| Total Investment — UGL Holding UGL Holding funds the programme as investor, with equity participation in each startup that completes the programme. Covers M1–9: Selection, Incubation, Pre-Acceleration, both Gate reviews. The Khokimiyat of Bukhara leads as executive partner and provides all venues. |
$300,000 | |
| Acceleration Value — IT Park Uzbekistan Partnership Covers M10–12: Acceleration and Bukhara Expo — delivered through Plug and Play's 3-year IT Park contract at no additional cost to Bukhara. |
≈$300,000 value · no extra cost |
Your Team
Plug and Play in Central Asia.
A dedicated in-country team embedded in Uzbekistan for the full duration of the programme, supported by PnP's global network of 750+ employees across 60+ offices.
