Success of Kazakhstan’s JobEscape Start-up

Kazakhstan’s largest venture fund, Tumar Venture LP, whose key investors are the World Bank and the Kazakh Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry, has invested a further 250 thousand US dollars in the Kazakh start-up JobEscape. As announced by the Ministry of Digital Development on 17 June, the total investment in the project now stands at 450 thousand US dollars. JobEscape is a platform that facilitates the acquisition of new skills required to start a freelancing career, through the provision of solutions unique to freelancers and career changers, access to training and a wide range of AI tools. A global project, JobEscape has users from the USA, Canada, Australia, and European countries. Regarding funding, Aslan Sultanov, CEO of Tumar VF, stated: “We invested in JobEscape in the last round and have seen the project grow from literally $10,000 in monthly revenue to almost $1 million in annual revenue. Seeing this dynamic rise, we are confident that the start-up has the potential to grow into a billion-dollar company with roots in Kazakhstan. We are pleased to support the team in creating such a global initiative.” Similarly encouraged by the platform’s development, Miras Sovetov, CEO and co-founder of JobEscape, said: “At the moment, the company’s annual revenue is already close to $1 million. The goal is to grow to US$6 million in 2025. The product is now being widely used in Western markets due to the rapid development of products in the field of AI. Investments in this round will help the company increase its customer base and increase the number of AI tools on the platform. Investors from the UAE and Azerbaijan are already entering the project, which confirms its competitiveness in the global market. The next step will be raising money from American funds for further growth and potential exit (sale of the start-up).”    

Kazakhstan Actions ‘Lifelong Learning’

On 5 June, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Kazakhstan issued a report on the success of courses delivered by the Skills Enbek vocational training platform. Since the beginning of 2024, 53.5 thousand citizens, including 27.2 thousand unemployed, have completed online courses conducted by Skills Enbek and a total of 427.2 thousand Kazakhs are now registered on the platform. Of the 27.2 thousand unemployed who have completed their training, around 8 thousand are youths based mainly in the regions of Aktobe, Turkestan, Kyzylorda, and Zhambyl regions, and the city of Shymkent. The platform offers 490 wide-ranging courses, lasting between 1-72 hours. The most popular courses last May, included: “Organizing a sales department in a hotel”, “Salesperson”, “Insurance agent”, “Individual assistant to accompany people with limited mobility,” and “Fundamentals of social entrepreneurship”. At present, 254 of the courses are free and the platform now plans to waive charges for training in various sectors including accommodation, food, construction, housing and communal services, social services, finance and accounting, and information technology. By expanding levels of education and professionalism in the country's population, the platform aims to both stimulate career development and promote the concept of “lifelong learning.”