Nearly 98% of Nazarbayev University (NU) graduates remain in Kazakhstan, contributing to a wide range of sectors across the national economy. They work as doctors, teachers, engineers, financiers, political scientists, and professionals in many other fields. At the same time, the University is nurturing a new generation of entrepreneurs who not only build successful businesses but also create jobs and make a tangible contribution to the country’s economic development.
Although NU was established just 16 years ago, its alumni have already founded thriving companies, attracted both domestic and international investment, earned recognition in Forbes rankings, and become leaders in their respective industries. Here are five successful entrepreneurs who graduated from NU.
Ayan Birimzhan is the founder and owner of the healthy food chain Health Project and the franchise partner of Drinkit in Kazakhstan. While studying at NU, he was passionate about bodybuilding, followed a healthy lifestyle, and prepared balanced meals himself. Realizing how time-consuming healthy meal preparation could be, he launched a daily healthy meal delivery service. Over time, the venture evolved into a successful business that combines healthy food delivery with a network of coffee shops. Today, Ayan Birimzhan’s companies employ more than 200 people across Kazakhstan.
Alisher Shariyazdanov, Kazakhstan’s youngest dollar millionaire, serves as the Founding Growth Manager at Higgsfield AI, a startup valued at $1.3 billion that became the country’s first unicorn. Through his stock options in the company, he became Kazakhstan’s youngest dollar millionaire at the age of 22. Notably, around 90% of the Higgsfield AI team are NU graduates. According to payment platform Stripe, the company is among the world’s fastest-growing AI startups, recording approximately 80% month-over-month revenue growth—roughly three times faster than OpenAI, according to the same data.
Eight years ago, Maulen Akhmetov founded Kunde, an inclusive coffee shop on the NU campus that employs young people with disabilities and neurodiverse individuals. Following the success of the first location, he opened a second coffee shop in Almaty in 2025. The launch was funded through a public fundraising campaign that raised KZT 8 million in just two days. Today, Kunde has become one of Kazakhstan’s best-known social entrepreneurship initiatives. Beyond creating employment opportunities for people with disabilities and neurodiverse individuals, the business promotes social inclusion and helps challenge stereotypes and stigma.
Laura Vaigorova is the founder of SmartestPrep (STP), an educational platform that helps high school and university students from Kazakhstan gain admission to leading universities worldwide. In 2021, the startup secured an early-stage investment of $50,000 from Singapore-based venture capital firm Quest Ventures, and in 2025 it was selected to join StartX, the prestigious startup accelerator affiliated with Stanford University. Today, SmartestPrep is expanding beyond Kazakhstan and serving students across Central Asia. In addition to leading her company, Laura is a columnist for Forbes Kazakhstan, where she writes about entrepreneurship and innovation.
Yerkebulan Saparov founded Product Masters, an educational platform that trains professionals in product management, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and other IT disciplines. Before launching the company, he worked at international startups and technology firms across Kazakhstan, Europe, and Africa. Today, Product Masters addresses several key challenges facing the labor market by helping reduce the shortage of qualified IT specialists, accelerating workforce development for technology companies, supporting the growth of Kazakhstan’s startup ecosystem and tech entrepreneurship, and creating opportunities for talented professionals to build successful careers at home, reducing the outflow of skilled talent abroad.
