How to Start and Grow a Successful Startup
CALI – Central Asian Ladies Initiative is excited to invite you to our next event: "How to Start and Grow a Successful Startup" in Palo Alto, Silicon Valley.
Join us for an inspiring evening with four incredible female founders from Central Asia who will share their journeys of turning their ideas into innovative companies - from redefining fertility care for women and AI-driven productivity tools, to building autonomous drones and training machine learning models that accelerate clinical drug development.
Get insights on how they transformed their ideas into successful ventures, overcame challenges, and achieved exponential growth.
Details of the Event:
Date: Friday, November 7th, 2025
Time: 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Venue: Silkroad Innovation Hub, 320 High Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301, Silicon Valley
Register: https://luma.com/7inyvc8v
Event Agenda:
5:30 PM – 6:00 PM → Registration and Networking
6:00 PM – 6:05 PM → Greetings from CALI and Silkroad Innovation Hub
6:05 PM – 6:50 PM → Speaker Presentations
6:50 PM – 7:30 PM → Panel Discussion and Q&A
7:30 PM – 8:00 PM → Networking
Featured Speaker:
Zhanel Nugmanova, Co-Founder and COO at Valinor Discovery - develops patient response prediction ML platforms trained on proprietary longitudinal datasets from patient-derived samples paired with spatial data and EHR to accelerate clinical trials.
Svetlana Kaz, Founder and CEO at Strawberry Health - redefining fertility care for women in their 30s and 40s.
Asel Tursun, Co-Founder and CEO at Arc Aero Inc. - building autonomous drones that act as first responders and deliver critical supplies.
Mika Sagindyk, Co-founder at Tackle - AI-powered time tracking and reporting for agencies and professional services.
What to Expect:
Our speakers will share how they came up with their ideas, got started, built their products, and where their startups stand today.
The evening will conclude with a panel discussion featuring Zhanel Nugmanova, Svetlana Kaz, and Mika Sagindyk, where we’ll explore the realities of the startup journey — pitfalls, lessons learned, and strategies for long-term success.
Why Attend:
Learn directly from successful female founders from Central Asia
Gain actionable insights on how to start and grow your own startup
Network with founders, investors, and professionals from Silicon Valley and beyond
Hosted By:
CALI – Central Asian Ladies Initiative
A forum for Central Asian women in Silicon Valley to network, develop professional skills and contribute to the community.
Silkroad Innovation Hub
A community space at the heart of Silicon Valley for founders and startups from Central Eurasia (🇰🇿🇺🇿🇰🇬🇹🇲🇹🇯🇦🇿🇹🇷🇲🇳).
Special Thanks:
A special thank you to Silkroad Innovation Hub and our supporters, Asset Abdualiyev and Aikumis Seksenbayeva, for hosting this event.
Register:
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