How a teen from Almaty dropped out of school to move to London and build his startup

This is the story of Arlan Rakhmetzhanov — a journey of courage, belief, and building something bigger than yourself. Full interview below.

Arlan Rakhmetzhanov, 18 years old, Almaty city, Founder & CEO of Nozomio, LinkedIn

About me

I have been passionate about technology for as long as I can remember — which might explain why I have already founded two startups. My parents, Valeria and Sanzhar, helped shape this passion early on, and I am incredibly grateful for their support.

Around the age of 10 or 11, I started reading about entrepreneurship, Silicon Valley, and Steve Jobs. At the time, I did not fully understand why it fascinated me — but I knew I felt drawn to that world.

When I was 15, I built an internal AI tool to help me apply for scholarships and extracurricular programs. After it started working, friends asked to try it too — and soon more people were using it. I eventually monetized it, and the product grew to 20 000 users. That was the turning point when I realized how powerful it is to solve problems that help others — not just yourself.

In my free time, I have developed and launched over five iOS apps, reaching more than 10 000 total downloads by 2025. I also wrote a short guide on venture capital for first-time founders.

But my main goal has always been to get into Stanford. I was laser-focused — I cold-emailed over 300 professors, and eventually became a research assistant to Professor Ilya Strebulaev, founder of the Venture Capital Initiative at Stanford.

About startup

I am currently working on Nozomio, a startup focused on orchestration of autonomous AI agents that can automate routine software development tasks — like code search, onboarding, QA, and review.

We are starting with Nia, an AI engineer that understands complex codebases in depth and automates repetitive work. Most AI tools today act like autocomplete — they lack true contextual understanding. Developers have to babysit them. I felt this pain myself, and after talking to other engineers, I knew the market needed something better — something that worked like a senior developer, not a fancy text generator.

We launched the product on February 14. Since then, we’ve gained over 700 users, with 15+ paying. We have signed a B2B client and made it to #3 Product of the Day on Product Hunt. Two Y Combinator teams are already using Nozomio.

About Entrepreneurs First

Entrepreneurs First is a leading European accelerator that backs individuals even before they have a team or product. Since 2011, EF has helped launch over 600 companies valued at over $11 billion — with backing from founders of Stripe, LinkedIn, Monzo, DeepMind, and WordPress.

EF invests up to $250 000 in exchange for 8% equity, plus MFN rights on future rounds.

I discovered EF while still in high school, hungry for something beyond the curriculum. I saw a post listing the top global accelerators, and EF stood out as one of the best in Europe. I applied immediately.

When I got accepted, I called my friend Arsen Kilyshbek — co-founder of The Personal AI Company and EF alum. We were both excited, and five minutes later, I knew: I was all in.

Originally, the offer came from EF’s Paris office. But after calls with Arsen and Nurdaulet Bazylbekov, founder of Eurasian Hub, it was clear London was the better move — closer to top funds. We activated our entire network in 48 hours to make the switch happen.

Arsen spoke to the SF team, I stayed in touch with Paris, and Nurdaulet — mid-flight from Europe to the US — got in touch with London’s EF leadership. Eventually, we got the London offer, and I signed right away.

My parents were amazing. My mom cried tears of joy, and my dad told me not to miss the opportunity. Their support made this leap so much easier.

Special thanks to Arsen and Nurdaulet for helping me transition and adapt to life in London.

Plans

My guiding principle is simple: build what people truly need. I plan to keep talking to users, understanding their pain points, and improving the product based on their feedback.

And if you are reading this, and dreaming of dropping everything to move to Silicon Valley and build the future of software — message me at arlan@nozomio.com.