UZBEKISTAN: Visa and Ipak Yuli Bank Announce the Winners of the First Wave of the She’s Next Initiative in Uzbekistan

She's Next Final Pitch Day Winners

Winner, Existing Business, Maftuna Mutallibkhujayeva

More than 5,000 women entrepreneurs joined the first wave of the program, with seven winners receiving a total of $22,000 in business grants.

TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN, August 25, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Visa and Ipak Yuli Bank announced the winners of the first wave of She’s Next, Empowered by Visa in Uzbekistan at the program’s final Pitch Day in Tashkent. Launched in Uzbekistan for the first time in

April 2026, the initiative attracted more than 5,000 women entrepreneurs from across the country. The program is designed to support women’s entrepreneurship through education, mentoring, expert guidance, and financial support.

Participants completed an educational program covering entrepreneurship, marketing, financial planning, and business development. They then developed business plans for evaluation by an expert panel.

The 30 highest-rated participants were invited to Tashkent to present their projects before a jury comprising representatives of Visa, Ipak Yuli Bank, and the business community. Seven projects across the Existing Business, Startup Business, and IT Business categories received grants totaling $22,000.

𝐒𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐔𝐳𝐛𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬

𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬:

• Maftuna Mutallibkhujayeva — First Place, $6,000 grant
• Nigorakhon Kodirova — Second Place, $4,000 grant
• Fatima Bazarbayeva — Third Place, $2,000 grant

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

• Mohinur Okhnorova — First Place, $4,000 grant
• Nargiza Makhmudova — Second Place, $2,000 grant
• E’zoza Mirsaotova — Third Place, $1,000 grant

𝐈𝐓 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

• Sevinch Makhmudova — Winner, $4,000 grant

“𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝑵𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒚 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒖𝒓 — 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆, 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕, 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔. 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆,” said Bekhzod Abdurakhmanov, Regional Manager of Visa in Uzbekistan.

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝑵𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑼𝒛𝒃𝒆𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍. 𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒍𝒔 — 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆, 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔. 𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝑺𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝑵𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈-𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎 𝑬𝑺𝑮 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒖𝒓𝒔,” said Umidjon Khakimov, Chairman of the Management Board (CEO) of Ipak Yuli Bank.

“𝑻𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒏𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔. 𝑨𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔, 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 58.9% 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑨𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑼𝒛𝒃𝒆𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏. 𝑨𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝑵𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎, 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒈𝒐𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒑 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑨𝑰 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔, 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔,” said Kamola Sobirova, Advisor to the Minister of Digital Technologies.

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𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐚
Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments. Visa processes payment transactions between consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and government organizations in more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through an innovative, convenient, reliable, and secure payment network to help consumers thrive and businesses and economies prosper. We believe that expanding access for everyone to the economy helps improve people’s well-being around the world and will form the foundation of the global movement of money in the future. Learn more at https://cis.visa.com/.

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐈𝐩𝐚𝐤 𝐘𝐮𝐥𝐢 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤
Ipak Yuli Bank is one of Uzbekistan’s leading private banks, operating under a license issued by the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Founded in 1990, the bank currently serves more than 5 million customers and offers a wide range of financial services to retail and corporate clients. The bank provides a full range of banking solutions, from cash management and financing to international payments and investment products. Ipak Yuli Bank actively develops digital services, including a mobile application and online financial management tools. The bank’s strategy is based on creating a modern financial ecosystem combining traditional banking, digital solutions, and partner services. Particular attention is paid to sustainable development: the bank follows ESG principles, participates in the We-Finance Code initiative, and holds international ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications. The bank’s reliability is confirmed by Fitch (B) and Moody’s (Ba3) international ratings, as well as its status as a Confirming Bank under the ADB TSCFP program. Learn more at the official website: https://ipakyulibank.uz/.