On September 12, Almaty hosts STEPPE Fair 2026—a cross-disciplinary festival convening enterprise technology founders, venture capital investors, digital media executives, and creative industry leaders. Emphasizing high-impact «Matchmaking», the forum abandons conventional monologue lectures in favor of direct, transactional engagements connecting startup founders with institutional backers and corporate decision-makers.
Artificial Intelligence, Product Architecture, and Venture Trends
The core business program interrogates how generative AI is fundamentally reshaping product mechanics, user acquisition funnels, and data privacy governance—where user trust and ethical data custody emerge as vital digital currency.
Industry keynote speakers examine pragmatic execution: establishing product-market fit, scaling unit economics, and executing cross-border expansion. Confirmed panelists represent Freedom Holding Corp., Yandex, Higgsfield AI, BI Group, Almaty Marathon, 1Fit, FC Kairat, and regional venture accelerators.
Applied Workshops for Developers and Product Engineers
Vibecoding and Generative AI Engineering: Raiymbek Yegemberdin, co-founder of Command Center (cc.dev), conducts an applied engineering masterclass demonstrating how developers orchestrate multimodal LLMs and AI coding agents to convert conceptual product briefs into production-grade MVPs in hours. Command Center recently secured over $900,000 in pre-seed venture backing at a $40 million valuation.
Brand Ideation and Neural Synthesis: Ekaterina Leiman and Maxim Fetisov lead an interactive laboratory examining programmatic content strategies when automated LLMs and diffusion models shoulder routine copywriting and visual asset synthesis.
Workshop access requires official festival admission paired with verified prior session registration, capped to ensure hands-on mentorship.
Pizza Pitch: STEPPE × Almaty Hub
An informal, high-velocity startup showcase where vetted AI and deep-tech founders pitch their commercial prototypes in strict three-minute allocations—literally over slices of pizza. Shortlisted finalists present before venture general partners, receiving immediate feedback and competing for a 1,000,000 tenge equity-free cash prize purse.
Creative Installations, Gastronomy, and Musical Lineup
Beyond technical tracks, the event features curated networking lounges, interactive street art installations curated by REPAS, specialized culinary pairings from Jinau, Voronka, and chef Ruslan Zakirov, alongside live electronic sets from Elevation resident DJs. Evening musical headliners include pop phenomenon ALPHA alongside special guest performers.
Institutional festival partners include Freedom Ticketon, BI Group, TMK Group, Almaty Hub, and Caspian Beverage Holding.
Event Logistics and Access Guidelines
Date & Schedule: September 12, 14:00 to 21:00 ALMT
Venue: OTZALT Art Space, 36 Baribayev Street, Almaty
Age Admission: 21+ strictly enforced
Ticketing: From 17,000 KZT on Ticketon.kz; discounted access from 14,450 KZT via Freedom SuperApp. Corporate delegation ticketing available via official channels.
