Global Platform. Regional Expertise.
SparkLabs Silkroad Fund I — a regional venture fund for early-stage AI and tech startups.
About the Fund
The fund is built on the SparkLabs Group platform — Top 10% VC in the US according to TIME & Statista — with a portfolio of 600+ companies and a combined post-money valuation of $ 56B+. Jurisdiction — Delaware, USA.
Growing Market — Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan GDP growing +5−6% per year; a young population of 100M+ and active government support for the tech sector.
Capital Deficit — Central Asia has few institutional early-stage VCs despite a strong pipeline of quality founders.
Global Bridge — Through the SparkLabs network — access to capital and follow-on rounds from Silicon Valley, Seoul, and Riyadh.
Strategy
Investment Principles
Early-stage conviction
Seed and Pre-Series A rounds with follow-on capability. Ticket size $ 0.5−5M. We enter at an early stage with strong conviction in the team and market.
Cross-border scaling
Portfolio access to global markets through the SparkLabs network. Silicon Valley, Seoul, Riyadh — available to every portfolio company.
Operator value-add
A team with experience at OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Stanford HAI. We don’t just invest — we build alongside founders.
Partnerships
Corporate and government programs in KSA, Korea, USA, and the EU. Structural access to markets and grant funding.
Target Sectors
AI & Generative AI
Infrastructure, vertical AI, applied ML
Fintech
Payments, lending, Islamic fintech
E-commerce & Marketplaces
B2C/B2B platforms for CIS and MENA
Logistics & Mobility
Digitization of the Silk Road
Platform Track Record
SparkLabs Group in AI
SparkLabs Group is one of 9 funds that participated in the $ 86B OpenAI tender round. Investor in Anthropic, xAI, Perplexity. Top 10% VC in the US according to TIME & Statista.
OpenAI
$86B → $500B · 6x
Anthropic
$15B → $183B · 12x
Aquabyte
$30M → $250M · 8x
MetAI
Series A
Vectara
$129M → $225M · 2x
Team
Bernard Moon
Venture Partner
- Co-founder SparkLabs Group
- Investments in OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, Vectara
- Advisor — Seoul National University (Data Science)
Ivan Grlic
General Partner
- Co-Founder, SparkLabs Saudi Arabia — investments in high-growth tech startups
- Serial entrepreneur: 3 market-leading companies across different industries
- 20+ years in international expansion across Europe, MENA, and Africa
Aslan Sultanov
General Partner
- Leader of the Central Asian regional VC sector
- Exclusive authority over the fund’s investment decisions
- 20+ years in Kazakhstan’s financial institutions in senior management roles
Fund Terms
Investment Structure
Target size
$100M
Fund term
10 years
Ticket size
$ 0.5M — $ 5M
Connecting Silicon Valley, the Gulf, and the Silk Road
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