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Shymkent is emerging as a vibrant hub for technological innovation, with a growing number of young entrepreneurs launching successful IT projects. The city's burgeoning tech scene has been further boosted by the opening of the Shymkent Hub technopark in 2024 and the recent Digital Qazaqstan technology forum.

These developments have provided a fertile ground for talented youth to demonstrate their entrepreneurial prowess, creating impactful IT startups. Digital Business has previously highlighted five remarkable success stories from Shymkent's young innovators, showcasing their diverse backgrounds, education, and experiences, all united by a characteristic boldness and unique talent.

AI Agents for Business Secure $6 Million Investment

Alibek Polatov, who studied computational mathematics and cybernetics, co-founded Oraclus in 2020, an AI service for Web3 analytics. Although the project initially attracted $400,000, it was later shut down due to an inability to secure further funding.

Undeterred, Polatov launched shai.pro in 2025 with partners. This platform assists banks, quasi-state organizations, and large corporations in deploying their own AI agents. The venture has since attracted a total of $6 million in investment. Notably, one of shai.pro's solutions is currently being tested by Galvani Bioelectronics Limited, a joint venture between Google's subsidiary Alphabet and pharmaceutical giant GSK.

"Our product completed a task in minutes that would typically take a corporation three months," Alibek shared.

From Cattle Theft Prevention to Livestock Financing

Childhood friends Dinar Benseitov and Miras Tursynaliyev, who attended school together in Shymkent, identified a significant problem in the agricultural market: cattle rustling. This issue was personal for them, as Dinar's brother had a horse worth $30,000 stolen, and Miras's father lost cows to theft.

Motivated by these experiences, they developed QazTracker, a GPS device for livestock monitoring. Today, their startup has evolved into a comprehensive platform for farmers, tracking animal health and activity. QazTracker is also developing a financing system for farmers based on the concept of "livestock on credit," allowing farmers to acquire animals and make payments incrementally as they generate income.

The project has received investment twice from Timur Turlov, exceeding $200,000 in total funding. "We want to support local agriculture. Many farmers in Kazakhstan close their businesses within a year due to a lack of experience and support, while in developed countries, agriculturalists work their land for generations," Dinar explained.

Building an IT Holding from Rural Roots

Aibek Quatbayev began his entrepreneurial journey during his first year at Kazakh National University by creating a website offering math problem solutions in Kazakh. Charging for access, he earned $2,500. After borrowing $1,000 from his father, he participated in the Work and Travel program in the USA, earning $12,000 in three months. He used this capital to purchase an iPhone and MacBook, investing the remainder in launching his own IT company, Bugin Holding.

Initially, the team focused on outsourcing website and mobile app development. "Developing products on an outsourcing basis brought good income. But at one point, I asked myself, 'What value does my work bring to society?' I couldn't find an answer. That's when I started thinking about creating something that was truly my own," Aibek recalled.

This led to the launch of Daryn Online, a platform preparing students for university entrance exams, specialized schools, and international higher education, alongside courses in English, physics, and computer science. The service now operates in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan, serving 20,000 users monthly. Bugin Holding's ecosystem also includes Ordagen for preschool education, Daryn Teacher for educators, and EduCenter for launching online courses.

Securing $100,000 for a US Startup at 18

As a high school student, Beksultan Moldaseit and his friends developed the startup Sky Light, organizing Shymkent's first drone show. Later, they expanded to the US market, collaborating with American partner Jay David to create Parde, a startup merging fintech with the event industry.

Parde combines a ticketing platform with a service that helps event organizers secure capital to launch and grow their events. In April 2026, Parde secured $100,000 in investment from the US-based Boost VC fund at a valuation of $1.75 million. The team is currently focused on the US market, targeting major cities like New York, Miami, and Atlanta. Within 2.5 months, Parde achieved $35,000 in Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR), with over 2,000 registered accounts and peaks of 20,000 concurrent users.

"We currently have approximately $6 million in GMV (Gross Merchandise Value). Our goal for the coming months is to convert this into tangible revenue, reach $100,000 in MRR, and attract major organizers," Beksultan stated.

High Schoolers Develop AI Legal Assistant

Erkhan Nariman, an 11th-grade student at Seitzhan School, teamed up with fellow gifted students Milan Gorislavets and Nursultan Mukhtaruly to create AdiletAI. This AI platform provides answers to legal questions based on Kazakhstani legislation and aims to assist lawyers in their daily work.

Developing the concept and Minimum Viable Product (MVP) took approximately four months and cost around 300,000 tenge, funded by the students' personal savings. AdiletAI now has a website, landing page, and administrative panel. The team is implementing a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) system to ensure the bot provides verified information from a document database rather than fabricating answers. Future plans include developing document generation tools for lawyers and corporate users, potentially creating contracts in 5-15 minutes.

"I plan to study abroad with the guys to gain strong education and experience, enabling us to build more innovative startups for Kazakhstan," said Erkhan.

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