NU Impact Foundation invested up to 100 million tenge in 10 social tech startups

On November 28, the Social Startup 2025 program concluded at Nazarbayev University — the first acceleration initiative in Kazakhstan that combines social impact, technology, and sustainable entrepreneurship. As a result of the eight-week process, 10 teams received grants of up to 10 million tenge and two years of support from NU Impact Foundation.

How the Foundation Creates Social Innovations

The Social Startup: Shaping Sustainable Future event brought together students, alumni, researchers, and members of the University community whose projects are aimed at solving real social challenges. The format demonstrated that the academic environment can serve as a catalyst for technological progress and a driver of the country's sustainable development.

President of Nazarbayev University Vakar Ahmad emphasized that Social Startup reflects the environment that the University has been developing in recent years:
«NU Impact Foundation has formed a dynamic ecosystem that unites talents, education, technology, and entrepreneurship. Thanks to this ecosystem, solutions are emerging that serve not only the university but also society», — he noted.

The Social Startup 2025 program became a unique experience for Kazakhstan: it was the first to combine educational modules, intensive work with trackers, and a strict focus on social impact. Out of 153 applications, 108 teams advanced to the accelerator, then 50 moved on to the semi-finals, and only the top 10 received grant funding and long-term support.

Director of the Department of Social Projects Dina Saifutdinova shared that this cohort was one of the most intensive:
«These were eight weeks of intensive work. Teams learned to build financial models, measure impact, and make sales. Next year, we will expand the program and launch new directions», — she emphasized.

Winning Projects of Social Startup 2025

10 solutions focused on sustainable development, inclusion, and technological innovations reached the final. Among them are Kunde Robot Cafe, robotic coffee shops that not only automate processes but also train baristas with disabilities; FoodSave, a technology for preventing food waste and saving unsold food for businesses; flection.ai, an AI platform for post-stroke rehabilitation that works based on a standard webcam; and MoonAi, a service that helps automate processes and trains a new profession — an AI integrator.

Projects aimed at psychological well-being and campus environment development include ZhanymAI, a 24/7 emotional support platform for universities and companies. In the field of sustainable materials, Nomadica stood out for creating biomaterials from reeds, wool, and agricultural waste. VBOX presented the first inclusive vending machine where products are produced by socially vulnerable groups.

In the sphere of digital accessibility, SoileApp stood out as the first Kazakh-language screen reader with neural speech synthesis. The children's technology segment is represented by AR Sana, a gaming AR speech therapist for children aged three to seven. The list is completed by Defect AI, an AI platform for automatic verification of medical records.

One of the winners, Dina Kalibekova from Defect AI, noted that participation in the program became a key moment in the team's development:
«Feedback from mentors helped build the right development strategy. Over eight weeks, we created two new modules — a smart search engine and a reference guide. The grant will allow us to develop the outpatient module and scale the solution», — she said.

The Social Startup program is just a small part of what is being developed within the NU Impact Foundation ecosystem. The Foundation creates conditions under which social and technological solutions receive support at all stages — from idea to implementation and growth. Social Startup 2025 has already shown that the Foundation's initiatives are capable of creating sustainable socially significant innovations that find application in various sectors of the economy and strengthen the influence of NU Impact Foundation on the development of Social Tech in the country.