Freedom Holding Corp. has acquired a stake in Kazakhstan's educational technology company Bilim Group, becoming its major shareholder. The deal has been approved by the Agency for Protection and Development of Competition of the Republic of Kazakhstan, allowing the parties to proceed with their joint strategy, as reported by infohub.kz.
The investment is aimed at digital transformation of the education sector and creating export potential for Kazakhstani IT products. Plans include developing advanced research, creating cutting-edge educational content, and implementing AI-based educational analytics tools.
Timur Turlov, CEO of Freedom Holding Corp., noted that integrating new technologies will expand the capabilities of the holding's existing ecosystem. "For us, this is a strategic step aimed at developing EdTech services in Kazakhstan and Central Asia through the most advanced technologies. We believe that the synergy of financial and educational technologies will create new opportunities for millions of users and allow us to provide useful socially significant services in a convenient format and for free. Within this direction, we plan to develop cooperation with OpenAI based on the signed agreement. We also plan to integrate EdTech services into our SuperApp, gradually reaching more and more users," he said.
Rauan Kenzhekhanuly, founder of Bilim Group, emphasized that combining the resources of the two companies is a logical continuation of many years of cooperation. Previously, the platforms had already implemented a joint project with Freedom Bank, in which Kazakhstani schoolchildren had the opportunity to earn financial rewards for high academic performance. "We are confident that combining competencies and resources will allow us to introduce innovations faster and more effectively, as well as support the sustainable development of digital educational solutions. This is the key to the growth of human capital in the modern world," Kenzhekhanuly concluded.
Bilim Group is the largest EdTech company in Central Asia, founded in 2011. The startup integrates IT services for automating educational processes, HR management, and digital libraries. The ecosystem's daily audience reaches one million unique users.
In November 2025, a strategic memorandum with OpenAI was signed in Washington with the participation of Freedom Holding Corp. Thanks to this agreement, more than 160,000 Kazakhstani teachers gained access to the safe educational version of the ChatGPT Edu neural network through the BilimClass platform.
Freedom Holding Corp. is a diversified international group present in 22 countries worldwide (including the USA, Cyprus, and Kazakhstan). The company employs over 11,800 people. The holding's shares are traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker FRHC. The group's ecosystem includes banking, insurance, brokerage services, telecommunications, and lifestyle services.