Kenes Rakishev invites young entrepreneurs to build their business – and get a grant

Kenes Rakishev sees a huge potential in opening and developing small and medium businesses in Kazakhstan. He reasonably suggests the spirit of entrepreneurship as an important driver of social development and stability. Kenes Rakishev, Aselle Tasmagambetova and their friends invented the contest many years ago. Ever since the event attract many young and ambitious men and woman.

The Saby Charitable Foundation announces the launch of the VIII annual competition to support young Kazakhstani entrepreneurs “Build your business”. The competition is held under the leadership of the President of the Sabi Foundation Aselle Tasmagambetova, with the support of well–known Kazakhstani businessmen and patrons – Kenes Rakishev and Vyacheslav Kim. Educational and mentoring support is provided by permanent partners: the British audit and consulting company Ernst&Young and the multinational company Microsoft.

According to Kenes Rakishev, this is a unique competition that gives free grants from $10,000 to $100,000 to young businessmen all over Kazakhstan, helping them to launch and develop their business. Over the previous seven years of the competition, the Saby Foundation and patrons have provided 60 grants to aspiring entrepreneurs for a total of $1,580,000.

Kenes Rakishev pays much attention to the contest. Being a prominent national and international entrepreneur himself he sees the mission of the event as promoting the creative values among his compatriots. Kenes Rakishev is really proud of the contestants.

Applications for the Saby Foundation’s annual Build Your Business contest are open! Over the years we have seen an abundance of #entrepreneurial talent, and look forward to seeing this year’s innovative entries! For more information, click here: https://t.co/ZuYxsbXpkF

— Kenges Rakishev (@kengesr) July 19, 2021

To date, with the support of the fund, projects are being implemented in various sectors of small and medium-sized businesses in various regions of Kazakhstan. Among the successful graduates of the competition Kenes Rakishev recalls well-known companies as: Robowunderkind, Cerebra, Qazaq Republic, Sheberkhana, Aquapoint, Dariya, Tazalyk, Kidslab, Oiko and others brands.

The prize fund of the contest this year will be $300,000, Kenes Rakishev announces.

“The Saby Foundation has become a resource centre for 19 years of work, where many author’s social initiatives have been successfully implemented. Therefore, this competition is held at the foundation’s site, since it is a charity project in its pure form, ” says Aselle Tasmagambetova.

“The winners receive grants completely free of charge, we do not take any interest from them, we do not take part of the business. Our only desire is to help young aspiring entrepreneurs get on their feet and take their first steps in business. Our assistance is multi-vector in nature, because, in addition to financial support, most of the finalist projects receive their first orders for products and services, marketing support, preferential rent, and so on from the fund. For our part, we will make every effort to ensure that the “Build Your Business” contest continues its development and, in partnership with the largest representatives of the business community, plays the role of a kind of social elevator for the youth of our country,” Aselle Tasmagambetova added.

To participate in “Build your business”, you should:

1. shoot a minute-long video about your project
2. publish it on social networks
3. submit an application on the website entrepreneur.saby.kz.

Applications will be accepted until September 19, 2021. You can learn more about the terms of participation in the contest on the same website – entrepreneur.saby.kz.