My name is Aldamzhar Kiikbayev, Class of 2024, Alumni, Master of Data Science and Bachelor of Computer Science, both degrees obtained at the School of Engineering and Digital Sciences (SEDS) of Nazarbayev University.
Among my many achievements during my time at NU SEDS the brightest ones are:
1. Co-founder and CEO of Mental (AI Mental Therapy startup, striving to be a supplementary product for therapists and provide faster access to them for users)
2. Mental is the member of Microsoft For Startups Founders Hub (accelerator, that provides sponsorships to startups, in this case Mental, up to $150000 for further development)
3. Co-Founder of NU Student Investment Fund Quantitative Division (usage of Data Analytics and Machine Learning for Investment Portfolio optimization, is active in the fund)
4. Co-Founder of PerFe agency (as co-CEO, built 2 products for students and members of NU community, a website and telegram bot)
5. Quest Ventures "Venture Leaders" Scholarship Recipient ($2500 program)
6. 1st place at investment portfolio competition at AIFC BCPD program
7. Finalist of Changellenge IT Cup Kazakhstan 2020 competition
8. QWANT Upskill Data Science Program Alumni
9. Speaker at NU Alumni Reunion at 2022 (was invited due to my IT career accomplishments in product and project management)
There are many success stories and challenges in my career as an IT entrepreneur and an operator, I will share the most significant that contributed to the startup ecosystem:
1. Co-founding PerFe agency, because it has shown the team spirit of NU students, readying for tackling any challenge related to app development for successful digitalization of Kazakh businesses of any size. I see it as a product of my Computer Science Bachelor degree. In our case, we succeeded in creating a telegram bot for organizers of dance festivals and creating a landing page for an influential NU student to boost her business' indicators even further
2. Co-founding Mental, because it has a great potential and is in the process of gaining a large traction of students and not only students who are in need of accessible and affordable mental therapy. I illustrate it as a product of my Data Science Masters degree journey. First frontier of the market that we target is our beloved NU community, and currently we are in the process of creating an effective marketplace bridge between therapists and users, in order to fasten the access, because time is everything in terms of saving a healthy body and mind. Our successful enrollment to Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub only proves the product-market fit of our AI product
3. Provided valuable consultation to the people who participated in Hackathon for youth at NU, which resulted in 2nd place. It felt very great that my time and experience invested in talented minds gave dividends and made me inspired to do something like this in the future!
Among the challenges and lessons learned, all I can state is that working in a team, finding compromises and powerful deals to make everyone in the startup community was not easy, but in the end it paid and will pay dividends both career and personal-wise
At the end, I want to express my deepest gratitude to all my fellow students, professors who supported my startup journey, my family for believing in me, and SEDS for giving me the opportunity to platform my achievements and success stories.
I hope to give upcoming students something to believe in, to be an inspiration, and to serve as a role model!
Among my many achievements during my time at NU SEDS the brightest ones are:
1. Co-founder and CEO of Mental (AI Mental Therapy startup, striving to be a supplementary product for therapists and provide faster access to them for users)
2. Mental is the member of Microsoft For Startups Founders Hub (accelerator, that provides sponsorships to startups, in this case Mental, up to $150000 for further development)
3. Co-Founder of NU Student Investment Fund Quantitative Division (usage of Data Analytics and Machine Learning for Investment Portfolio optimization, is active in the fund)
4. Co-Founder of PerFe agency (as co-CEO, built 2 products for students and members of NU community, a website and telegram bot)
5. Quest Ventures "Venture Leaders" Scholarship Recipient ($2500 program)
6. 1st place at investment portfolio competition at AIFC BCPD program
7. Finalist of Changellenge IT Cup Kazakhstan 2020 competition
8. QWANT Upskill Data Science Program Alumni
9. Speaker at NU Alumni Reunion at 2022 (was invited due to my IT career accomplishments in product and project management)
There are many success stories and challenges in my career as an IT entrepreneur and an operator, I will share the most significant that contributed to the startup ecosystem:
1. Co-founding PerFe agency, because it has shown the team spirit of NU students, readying for tackling any challenge related to app development for successful digitalization of Kazakh businesses of any size. I see it as a product of my Computer Science Bachelor degree. In our case, we succeeded in creating a telegram bot for organizers of dance festivals and creating a landing page for an influential NU student to boost her business' indicators even further
2. Co-founding Mental, because it has a great potential and is in the process of gaining a large traction of students and not only students who are in need of accessible and affordable mental therapy. I illustrate it as a product of my Data Science Masters degree journey. First frontier of the market that we target is our beloved NU community, and currently we are in the process of creating an effective marketplace bridge between therapists and users, in order to fasten the access, because time is everything in terms of saving a healthy body and mind. Our successful enrollment to Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub only proves the product-market fit of our AI product
3. Provided valuable consultation to the people who participated in Hackathon for youth at NU, which resulted in 2nd place. It felt very great that my time and experience invested in talented minds gave dividends and made me inspired to do something like this in the future!
Among the challenges and lessons learned, all I can state is that working in a team, finding compromises and powerful deals to make everyone in the startup community was not easy, but in the end it paid and will pay dividends both career and personal-wise
At the end, I want to express my deepest gratitude to all my fellow students, professors who supported my startup journey, my family for believing in me, and SEDS for giving me the opportunity to platform my achievements and success stories.
I hope to give upcoming students something to believe in, to be an inspiration, and to serve as a role model!