Send us a text

Miguel Armaza sits down with Nikolay Seleznev, Co-Founder of Uzum, Uzbekistan’s first tech unicorn rewriting the playbook for e-commerce and fintech in Central Asia. From Moscow to Tashkent, Nikolay Seleznev brings global banking experience and entrepreneurial grit to a country leapfrogging straight into the digital economy.

In this episode, Nikolay Seleznev shares the origin story of Uzum and how a simple, subpar online shopping experience sparked the vision for a super app serving millions. He dives into the challenges of building next-day delivery and financial services from scratch—without warehouses, 3PL infrastructure, or widespread digital adoption. Discover how Uzum managed to issue 4 million debit cards in a single year, reach 20 million monthly active users, and outperform their first-year GMV forecast by 4x, all while driving massive change in a historically cash-based society.

Timestamped Overview
00:00 Intro & Nikolay’s Background
05:45 Building a Super App Ecosystem
08:05 Time as the ultimate resource
10:51 Uzbekistan’s rapid transformation
15:13 Commerce and Fintech Ecosystem Overview
20:12 Building trust through products
23:15 Uzbekistan’s first unicorn funding
26:57 Scaling success and adaptation
28:22 Super app strategy adjustments
32:02 Super Apps and Local Adaptation
35:41 Self-focused entrepreneurial perspective

Want more podcast episodes? Join me and follow Fintech Leaders today on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app for weekly conversations with today’s global leaders that will dominate the 21st century in fintech, business, and beyond.

Do you prefer a written summary? Check out the Fintech Leaders newsletter and join ~85,000+ readers and listeners worldwide!

Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder and General Partner of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas. He also hosts and writes the Fintech Leaders podcast and newsletter.

Miguel on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3nKha4Z
Miguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBc
Fintech Leaders Newsletter: https://bit.ly/3jWIpqp

Uzum, from 0 to $1.5Bn in Four Years. Building Uzbekistan's First Tech Unicorn. Nikolay Seleznev, Co-Founder

Fintech Leaders

Uzum, from 0 to $1.5Bn in Four Years. Building Uzbekistan's First Tech Unicorn. Nikolay Seleznev, Co-Founder