The Pitch Competition final was held on November 5 at the Defense Tech Hub in Almaty. Supported by the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the competition brought together 14 teams from cities across the country, selected from more than 100 applications.
Participants presented developments in unmanned systems, artificial intelligence, infrastructure protection and specialist training. The prize fund was 2 million tenge.
First place went to a team that developed autonomous control modules for unmanned aircraft to protect critical infrastructure facilities from aerial threats. Second place was awarded to a virtual simulator for training unmanned aircraft operators.
The third-place project proposed creating a domestic technology base for the development, production and testing of missile systems. In addition to cash prizes, the winners received access to the Almaty FabLab laboratory. The third-place team also received two workspaces at Defense Tech Hub for six months.
Нұркен Ержанов, managing director of Kazakhstan GIS Center JSC and DefenseTech curator, said the competition gave developers an opportunity to discuss the practical use of their technologies and conditions for further testing with industry specialists.
An exhibition of technology projects was also held alongside the competition. Visitors saw autonomous patrol drones, AI-powered interceptor drones, computer vision systems, counter-drone training simulators, robotic platforms and digital solutions for staff training.
