Emerging Forward Podcast

Episode 3: Central Asia VC Leapfrog and Southeast Asia Corridor

Guest: Ruslan Rakymbay, Investment Director, Quest Ventures

Ruslan Rakymbay is an Investment Director at Quest Ventures, a top venture capital fund in Asia. He works closely with startups to accelerate their growth through a combination of acceleration services and programmes. He is also responsible for market access initiatives for key markets in Central Asia. Ruslan was a founding member of QazAngels, Kazakhstan’s pioneering angel investment network, Ruslan has played a key role in fostering the country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Prior to this, he served as the regional CEO of Primus Power, a US Silicon Valley-based energy storage technology company. His contributions to the energy sector have earned him prestigious accolades, including the Clean Tech Transformer award from the Islamic Development Bank and the New Energy Leader award from the Asian Development Bank. Ruslan is also an active member of the Project Management Institute in Kazakhstan. Ruslan is a Bolashak Presidential Scholarship recipient, a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), and received an MSc in Energy Economics from the University of Dundee, UK. Ruslan speaks Mandarin Chinese and spent two years at CUEB and BLCU in Beijing, China. He is also an International Law Specialist (MA-equivalent) from the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. For leisure, he enjoys traveling, diving (Ruslan is PADI certified scuba-diver), cycling and reading.

What We Cover

Quest Ventures’ ecosystem build: Kazakhstan Digital Accelerator, educating VC instruments and mechanics to regulators/AIFC, and Astana Hub partnerships, ecosystem.​

Cross-border bridges: Central Asia (Kazakhstan/Uzbekistan/Kyrgyzstan/Tajikistan) as one market, expanding to Vietnam/Philippines/Singapore via SEA events and portfolio companies.​

LP evolution: From zero GPs to 30+ in Central Asia, M&A exits now, IPOs possible in 5 years (SEA/HK/Nasdaq).​

AI tailwinds: Kazakhstan AI code, supercomputers for startups, AI as scaling tool for all models.​

Founder playbook: “Live there first” for expansions (e.g., 1-month India test saved $1M burn).​

2026–27 outlook: More AI startups, Quest raising Central Asia fund ($1M A-rounds), Vietnam as key bridge.​

Timestamps

00:02 Intro: Ruslan’s bio, QazAngels founding, Quest Ventures role.​

02:18 2019 entry: 2–5 deals/year to 32 investments, 6 exits via accelerator.​

10:54 LP shift: 10+ Kazakhstan GPs, 30+ Central Asia, no more SAFE education needed.​

23:00 Cross-border: Central Asia as unit, SEA expansions (US/Philippines/Europe).​

25:25 Founder blind spots: “Live in market 1 month” before scaling.​

30:00 AI infra: 2 supercomputers (free GPUs), AI code, 2026–27 AI surge.​

Quest Ventures Links

Official site

Ruslan Rakymbay profile: Link​

Quest Ventures: LinkedIn ​

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingforward.substack.com

Episode 2: Central Asia's "Default to Global" – How Syndicates Bridge the US Gap

Guest: Almaz Edilbaev (@almaz-edilbaev)

Almaz Edilbaev is co-founder of chANGELS, an angel syndicate from Kyrgyz Republic backing Central Eurasia founders building global businesses; COO & co-founder of DataCall AI (backed by 500 Global), a Chicago-based healthcare AI startup automating phone operations like benefit verification and prior auth for clinics. Originally from the Kyrgyz Republic, he has 13+ years in VC/accelerators across Central Asia, Russia and the US; including Investment Lead at Accelerate Prosperity (AKDN), Strategy & Corporate Development at Kyo Health.

What we cover:

• Central Asia's quiet VC boom: from ~5 funds a decade ago to ~100 today, including a $1B Kazakh fund-of-funds already deploying 20%.

• Why Central Asian founders now "default to global" – building US-facing teams from Bishkek with unicorn traction (e.g., Hicksfield).

• Valuation gaps: $200-800K pre-seed at ~$5M cap regionally vs $2M at $10-20M in the Bay Area.

• GTM differences: Short cycles + easy access in Central Asia vs long procurement battles in US healthcare.

• How chANGELS built the first Kyrgyz angel syndicate using SPVs + SAFEs to pool small checks into US-facing founders.

Key quote: "Talent is distributed equally, but capital is getting closer to equilibrium." – Almaz Edilbaev

Timestamps:

00:00 – Intro + Almaz's journey (Moscow VC → Kyrgyzstan accelerators → US healthcare ops)

01:40 – Central Asia VC explosion (100+ funds, C5+1 geopolitics)

04:00 – AI as the breakout sector + "default to global" mindset

07:00 – Valuation geography gaps + Hicksfield unicorn case

10:00 – B2B GTM: Central Asia vs US differences

13:00 – chANGELS syndicate mechanics (SPVs, Sidecar, SAFEs)

18:00 – Closing: Why Central Asia will only get bigger

Links:

• Almaz's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/almaz-edilbaev

• Emerging Forward newsletter: https://emergingforward.substack.com/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingforward.substack.com

Episode 01: Why Nobody Builds Between Europe and Asia

Aadi Vaidya (Partner, The Scale Factory) spent 10 years building across India, Southeast Asia, and Europe. He was founding team member and COO at Zilingo (Sequoia-backed, scaled to near-unicorn status) and now helps software companies expand between Europe and Asia.

In this conversation, we explore:• Why the Europe-Asia corridor is underserved compared to US routes• How "pace" means different things in different markets (and why this creates friction)• The fear of unknown as the biggest expansion blocker• Why a seed company in Europe has Series D controls in Asia• ACV considerations for different markets• Why Asia opportunity is bigger than most European founders realize• Framework for thinking about expansion without being reckless

Key Timestamps:00:00 - Intro00:27 - Aadi's background: India → Southeast Asia → Germany02:41 - Why Germany? Personal and professional reasons05:31 - Pace differences: Asia vs Europe07:00 - Maturity at different stages across markets10:40 - US mentality vs European mentality13:00 - Expansion strategy framework15:44 - Don't go reckless: Talk to ICPs first18:27 - Fear of unknown as biggest blocker20:02 - Why founders miss the Asia opportunity22:26 - Why now is the moment for this corridor

Guest: Aadi Vaidya - Partner at The Scale Factory (Singapore HQ, based in Berlin)Previously: COO & Founding Team at Zilingo (Sequoia-backed)Started: Citibank Corporate & Investment Banking, India Advisor: German Accelerator, Techstars mentor

Connect with Aadi: LinkedIn

Host: AdiSubscribe: Substack

Emerging Forward explores capital flows, expansion strategy, and overlooked dynamics between Europe and emerging markets.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingforward.substack.com

Emerging Forward is a short, focused podcast about how capital actually moves between Europe and emerging markets including MEA, APAC (with some emerging Europe in the mix), beyond the warm‑intro VC deals everyone talks about. Each episode breaks down real patterns from investors, and founders: from sourcing, structure cross‑border rounds, and navigate on‑the‑ground constraints. Hosted by Adi, an associate and ex‑founder working with investors and early‑stage startups across Europe, MEA, APAC, the show is designed for investors, emerging managers, and resilient founders who care about mechanics, not just narratives.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingforward.substack.com