Nearly all graduates of Nazarbayev University (NU) stay and work in Kazakhstan, with some not only building successful careers but also founding companies that employ hundreds of people, reports infohub.kz.
About 98% of NU graduates apply their knowledge across various sectors of Kazakhstan's economy—including healthcare, education, engineering, finance, and political science. The university produces not only skilled professionals but also entrepreneurs who directly contribute to economic growth.
Here are five examples of successful NU graduates who launched their own ventures.
Ayan Birimzhan founded the healthy food chain Health Project and became a franchising partner of Drinkit in Kazakhstan. His companies now employ over 200 people.
Alisher Shariyazdanov, Kazakhstan's youngest dollar millionaire, serves as Founding Growth Manager at Higgsfield AI, a startup valued at $1.3 billion that became the country's first unicorn. About 90% of the company's team are NU graduates. According to Stripe, Higgsfield AI's monthly revenue growth is around 80%, roughly three times that of OpenAI.
Maulen Akhmetov founded the inclusive coffee shop Kunde on the NU campus eight years ago, employing people with disabilities. In 2025, a second coffee shop opened in Almaty, raising 8 million tenge in donations within two days. The project has become one of Kazakhstan's most famous social enterprises.
Laura Vaigorova created the educational platform SmartestPrep (STP), which helps high school students gain admission to top global universities. In 2021, the startup secured $50,000 from Singapore's Quest Ventures, and in 2025 it joined Stanford University's StartX accelerator. Laura is also a columnist for Forbes Kazakhstan.
Yerkebulan Saparov founded Product Masters, a platform for training specialists in product management, data analytics, and AI. The project helps reduce the IT talent shortage and curb brain drain abroad.