Tabys App. A Kazakhstani startup that made investments accessible to everyone

Rasul Khasanov, Project Lead of Tabys App

How We Started

We launched on December 2, 2020.

Kazakhstan faces a significant problem: very few people are integrated into the financial world. They believe that investing is expensive, complicated, and unclear.

Our main goal is to democratize the investment market. To achieve this, we created a simple app that brings together the world’s primary investment tools.

We fractionalized stocks to make them more accessible to the general public. For example, if a stock in the US costs $400, it costs $40 in Tabys App.

Recently, we launched a real estate fund that trades in the US for $80. We divided it and offered shares at just $1 each. This way, you buy the same property, but only a fractional share. Users liked this feature. People can now invest with their change.

We want investing to become a habit.

It shouldn’t be that you save up and spend half your salary on a single Tesla stock. That’s difficult, expensive, and unlikely to become a habit. However, buying with your change—say, for three to five dollars—is convenient and simple. After two years, I can say that this approach truly works and becomes a habit, even though last year was challenging from a macroeconomic perspective. People continue to invest through the app.

We made the app as simple as possible. All you need is registration and minimal knowledge about how to invest.

The Idea Behind the Product

Only 1% of the population in Kazakhstan invests. This is both sad and good. It’s sad that so few people are interested in it. It’s good because the market is still untapped and there is room for growth. We looked at the statistics and decided to join the race to bring people into the world of investing. For example, in Russia, more than 10% of people actively invest, and in the US, it’s over 60%. Moreover, they have been doing this for generations. In our country, we are only at the beginning stage. Furthermore, our market has been severely damaged by various pyramid schemes, where people simply lose money, leading to distrust in investments.

Before creating the app, I had been investing for many years. As an experienced investor, I can say that if you want to invest in the US from Kazakhstan, you would have to overcome 30 hurdles. It’s complicated and requires consultations. We reduced these 30 hurdles to just five. You don’t need to make transfers, open a dollar account, or sign a currency agreement with the National Bank. You just need to link your card and buy investments. We help people become investors in five minutes.

We have a good case study. In the fall, there was the IPO of JSC NC “KazMunayGas.” Through our app, people bought shares worth 1 billion 50 million tenge. This is a significant achievement for us.

The Team

We have a front office and a back office. The front office consists of four people who handle support, product management, and marketing. The back office is fully managed by the Astana International Exchange: for settlements, deposits, and so on. This involves about 30 people.

Achievements in 2022

We participate in various exhibitions, and last year we made it into the Top 30 best apps in Kazakhstan according to Forbes.

We are now two years old, and last year we grew by a factor of two. Currently, there are 43,000 registered accounts in the app, of which about 17,000 are active investors.

Plans for 2023

We plan to increase the number of tools within the app. We gather feedback from the market and add what tops the surveys. We want to add features, educational content, and a referral system. The main goal is growth. Each year, we aim to double the number of users.

Advice for Investors

Invest regularly.

It’s not those who wait for the right moment who win, but those who invest regularly and consistently.

Advice for Startups

Build startups for the market.

If the market is large, that’s good. Look at how many customers you can attract and focus primarily on people’s needs.