Education technology (EdTech) in Kazakhstan has advanced dramatically in recent years. During the pandemic, digital education was seen as an emergency substitute for classroom lessons. Today, Kazakhstani EdTech companies set standards internationally. Local startups teach hundreds of thousands of children to code in South Korea and the UAE, bring adaptive mathematics learning to Latin America and use AI to help teachers prepare lesson plans.
RAEM analysed the country’s education landscape and compiled a verified ranking of six leading EdTech platforms in Kazakhstan. These projects have demonstrated their effectiveness through millions of users, substantial revenue, international export contracts and recognition at state level.
🎓 Key drivers of Kazakhstan’s EdTech boom:
- Adaptive learning and AI: moving from passive video lectures to microlearning with difficulty adjusted to each pupil (Qalan.kz, Ustaz AI).
- Global exports from the start: Kazakhstani approaches to gamified coding and robotics operate in education systems in more than 12 countries (CodiPlay).
- Comprehensive university digitalisation: digitising campuses, ECTS credit systems and academic records for hundreds of thousands of students (HeRo Study).
Overview: six EdTech platforms in Kazakhstan
| Founders | Education segment | Key technology | Scale and reach | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CodiPlay | Zhanadil Taldybayev | K–12: coding, robotics, IoT | Gamification, mobile IDE, CodiKit | 12+ countries • $10M+ valuation • 300,000+ pupils |
| Qalan.kz | Askar Bolat, Kuanysh Nabiyev | School mathematics (Grades 1–11) | Adaptive AI practice, learning-gap assessment | 1,000,000+ pupils • 4 countries • $6M+ revenue |
| Daryn.online | Aybek Kuatbayev, Nurbakyt Zhuldyzbaiuly | Online school, UNT preparation | Video platform, interactive testing | 3,000,000+ users • 30,000+ lessons |
| BilimLand | Rauan Kenzhekhanuly | National digital school (OnlineMektep) | Curriculum-aligned digital content, LMS, Kitap.kz | 3.5M+ pupils • 350,000+ teachers |
| HeRo Study | Anton Silenko | Higher education (universities and colleges) | University ERP/LMS, digital academic administration | 100,000+ students • $3M valuation |
| Ustaz AI | Alem AI team | Generative AI for schoolteachers | LLM-generated lesson plans and assessments | Kazakhstan presidential award • 70% time savings |
1. CodiPlay: Kazakhstani gamified coding reaches 12 countries
Teaching children digital literacy and programming was long constrained by dull textbooks or the need for a powerful computer. Kazakhstani startup CodiPlay, founded by Zhanadil Taldybayev, proposed another approach: turn programming into an engaging arcade-style mobile game available even on a budget smartphone.
CodiPlay’s ecosystem includes a mobile app with arcade levels for learning Scratch, Blockly, Python and web development (HTML/CSS), the CodiKit robotics and IoT construction kit, and the CodiTeach web system that lets teachers monitor each class’s progress.
CodiPlay founder Zhanadil Taldybayev: the startup exports educational technology from Seoul to London
The project became one of Central Eurasia’s fastest-growing international EdTech businesses. Its valuation exceeded $10 million, with more than $2 million raised. More than 300,000 pupils now learn through CodiPlay in 12 countries. The solution has been adopted in private and public schools in South Korea (Seoul), the United Kingdom, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe, where the project reached more than 11,000 schools through a national digitalisation programme.
EdTech • Global Expansion
CodiPlay
A gamified system teaching children coding and robotics. Valued at over $10 million and exported to 12 countries, including South Korea, the UAE and the United Kingdom.
2. Qalan.kz: AI teaching mathematics to a million pupils
A central challenge in school mathematics is the cumulative effect of gaps in understanding: a child who does not grasp fractions or multiplication in Grade 3 may struggle with algebra in Grade 7. In a class of 30, a teacher cannot identify every pupil’s individual gaps.
Qalan.kz founders Askar Bolat and Kuanysh Nabiyev developed an adaptive AI mathematics trainer that acts as a personal virtual tutor. It begins with a comprehensive assessment, tracing the mathematical skills tree back to the root of each error. Pupils cannot advance to harder topics until they solve varied problems and consolidate the underlying skill.
Qalan.kz founders Askar Bolat and Kuanysh Nabiyev: the algorithm adapts mathematics to each child’s pace
The model’s results impressed investors: struggling pupils’ average grades improve by two points after a few months of regular 15-minute practice. The platform now teaches more than 1,000,000 pupils and is used in over 350 schools. Monthly revenue exceeds $500,000, or more than $6 million annually. Qalan is expanding in Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan and piloting a Spanish-language version in Latin America.
EdTech • AI-Adaptive
Qalan.kz
An AI mathematics trainer for Grades 1–11. More than one million users, over $6 million in annual revenue and expansion across the CIS and Latin America.
3. Daryn.online: a leading online school and UNT preparation platform
Unequal access to quality education between major cities and rural areas has long challenged Kazakhstan. Talented rural pupils often lacked access to strong tutors and preparation methods for the Unified National Testing (UNT) examination and academic Olympiads.
Daryn.online, founded by entrepreneurs Aybek Kuatbayev and Nurbakyt Zhuldyzbaiuly, became Kazakhstan’s largest digital online school. The platform brought together leading teachers from Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools, Bilim-Innovation lyceums and other top schools to record more than 30,000 studio-quality interactive video lessons in Kazakh and Russian.
Daryn.online founders Aybek Kuatbayev and Nurbakyt Zhuldyzbaiuly: a digital platform with three million users
Daryn.online has surpassed 3,000,000 registered users. Its ecosystem includes topic-based tests with immediate error analysis, real-time UNT simulations, career guidance courses and teacher professional development, reducing geographical barriers to learning.
EdTech • E-Learning
Daryn.online
The country’s largest online education platform. UNT preparation and the Grades 1–11 curriculum, with more than three million users and 30,000 video lessons.
4. BilimLand: the digital foundation of Kazakhstan’s school education
School digitalisation requires standardised content that meets mandatory state education standards. BilimLand, led by public figure and entrepreneur Rauan Kenzhekhanuly, evolved over a decade from a collection of interactive lessons into a central part of the country’s education infrastructure.
Its flagship OnlineMektep became a key remote and hybrid learning platform in thousands of Kazakhstani schools. The ecosystem also includes the Kazakh literature library Kitap.kz, the BilimClass digital learning tool and virtual science laboratories for physics, chemistry and biology.
BilimLand founder Rauan Kenzhekhanuly: 3.5 million pupils and 350,000 teachers use the platform
BilimLand reaches more than 3.5 million pupils and over 350,000 teachers who regularly use its digital resources. The company developed more than 40,000 interactive lessons aligned with the school curriculum and supports continuous digital learning across Kazakhstan.
EdTech • National LMS
BilimLand
Kazakhstan’s largest digital education ecosystem, including OnlineMektep and Kitap.kz. Reaches more than 3.5 million pupils and 350,000 teachers.
5. HeRo Study: a cloud university and digital administration for 100,000 students
While school digitalisation in Kazakhstan was largely centralised, higher and vocational education spent years relying on fragmented, outdated and in-house software. Managing ECTS credits, resits, complex room schedules, dormitory allocations and student apps required a unified SaaS solution.
Kazakhstani platform HeRo Study, led by managing partner Anton Silenko, developed the HeRo Study Space SaaS ecosystem for universities and colleges. It replaces dozens of paper registers: students receive an app with schedules, transcripts, grades and push notifications, while administrators use an ERP/LMS with automatic academic workload calculations and bank integrations for tuition payments.
HeRo Study managing partner Anton Silenko: the cloud platform digitised academic administration for 100,000 students
The platform serves more than 100,000 active students at leading universities and colleges in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. The project reached a $3 million valuation and raised more than $500,000 in venture investment. It is introducing AI modules to predict academic performance and track graduates’ careers.
EdTech • Higher Ed SaaS
HeRo Study
A university ERP/LMS platform and mobile app for students and academic administrators. More than 100,000 active users and a $3 million valuation.
6. Ustaz AI: artificial intelligence supporting schoolteachers
Teaching involves a substantial administrative and methodological workload. Research indicates that Kazakhstani teachers spend up to three or four hours each evening preparing short-term lesson plans, differentiated tests and visual teaching materials aligned with the Ministry of Education’s standards.
Kazakhstani startup Ustaz AI, created by a community of AI developers and teaching specialists, developed a generative AI copilot trained on Kazakhstan’s national curriculum. Teachers enter the subject, grade, term and lesson topic. Within 30 seconds, the model generates a structured lesson plan with learning objectives, assessment criteria, descriptors and ready-made exercises for pupils of different ability levels.
Ustaz AI was presented to Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the Alem AI innovation forum
The project received a special award from President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the Alem AI artificial intelligence forum. Teachers using Ustaz AI estimate that it saves up to 70% of lesson preparation time, allowing them to focus on classroom interaction and individual support.
EdTech • Generative AI
Ustaz AI
A generative AI teaching assistant that creates lesson plans and assessment tests. Recipient of a presidential award; saves up to 70% of teachers’ preparation time.
RAEM editorial conclusions
Kazakhstan’s EdTech sector is maturing: projects have moved beyond local niches and are creating a new export category in the knowledge economy. CodiPlay and Qalan.kz show that algorithms and teaching methods developed in Kazakhstan can compete in demanding international markets.
In the coming years, widespread integration of multimodal generative AI into schools and universities, following the example of Ustaz AI, is expected to help transform standardised schooling into a personalised learning path for each child.