Arlan Rakhmetzhanov
| Arlan Rakhmetzhanov | |
| Nationality | Kazakhstani |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, software developer |
| Known for | Founder of Nozomio |
Arlan Rakhmetzhanov is a Kazakhstani entrepreneur and founder of Nozomio, a technology company building context infrastructure for artificial intelligence agents. He is notable for dropping out of high school in Kazakhstan to attend Y Combinator's Summer 2025 batch, raising $6.2 million in seed funding at the age of 18.[1]
Career
Rakhmetzhanov taught himself to code while attending high school in Kazakhstan.[2] He reportedly cold-emailed his way into a connection with Stanford University.[3] He has been described as a two-time founder.[4]
Prior to joining Y Combinator, Rakhmetzhanov raised an $850,000 pre-seed round for an AI product called Nia, led by LocalGlobe, a London-based venture capital firm.[5] At the time, he was based in London and building what was described as autonomous engineering agents for software development teams.[6]
Nozomio, the parent company, describes itself as a "product lab building context superintelligence." Its primary product, Nia, provides context infrastructure for AI agents by indexing and delivering up-to-date technical content—including documentation, codebases, research papers, and datasets—so that AI agents can access current and precise information. The product is available through an API and via the Model Context Protocol (MCP), with both consumer and enterprise offerings.[7]
Rakhmetzhanov participated in Y Combinator's Summer 2025 batch and subsequently raised $6.2 million in seed funding for Nozomio. In interviews, he has noted that being a teenage founder allows for greater risk-taking, as he had fewer personal obligations and financial commitments compared to older entrepreneurs.
His story has been covered by Business Insider, Sifted, UKTN, Silicon Canals, and other technology publications, often highlighting his age and unconventional path to entrepreneurship.
References
- ↑ "I'm a high school dropout who raised $6 million out of Y Combinator. Being a teen founder means you can take more risks.". 'Business Insider}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "18-year-old founder raises €747K for AI startup Nia". 'Silicon Canals}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "18-year-old raises £637k to build AI startup Nia". 'BusinessCloud}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "18-year-old founder raises $850K to build autonomous AI engineers for dev teams". 'Startups Magazine}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "18-year-old founder closes pre-seed funding round for AI startup". 'UKTN}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Big Interview: Meet the 18-year-old dropout building the AI agent to rule them all". 'Sifted}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Nozomio". 'Nozomio}'. Retrieved 2026-03-19.