History of Activat VC
Venture capital company Activat VC (formerly Smart Investments) was established in 2014 in Kazakhstan. The company started as a startup studio and independently launched 6 of its own projects. According to the canons of the venture capital industry, 5 out of 6 startups failed, and since that time there has been only one successfully operating project - i-teka, a medical portal to search for drugs in pharmacies, as well as to find doctors and online consultations with them.
Over several years of working with its own projects, Activat VC has accumulated strong enough expertise that it has been able to support other startups with mentorship and seed funding. Gradually, Activat VC has evolved into an investment company that puts smart money into early stage startups.
As the number of invested projects expanded, an ecosystem of young entrepreneurs began to form around Activat VC, later merged into the Uley community (renamed Activat Startup). Currently, Activat Startup includes about 250 funders and team members who share news, discuss common problems, and find like-minded people on one platform.
In parallel, since 2019, a community of business angels and private investors who would like to get involved in venture capital investment has started to form around Activat VC. Activat VC became their coordinator and leader. The Pragmatic Investors Club (renamed Activat Invest), established in 2020, became a place of communication, experience exchange and joint investment. Thus, under the auspices of Activat VC, a pool of investors financed such startups as ApartX, LoopOne and others.
The geography of Activat VC's activities gradually began to expand. In 2019, cooperation with American partners was launched: Network VC Syndicate Fund, as well as Starta, Around Capital and others. Thanks to these relationships, Activat VC has had the opportunity to invest in successful US startups such as HyPoint, Respeeсher, 3DLOOK, etc., some of which have demonstrated multiple value growth.
