A Kazakh IT company, Zimran, whose founders claimed multi-million revenues, has found itself at the centre of a journalistic investigation. The British regulator has ruled that advertising for the educational platform Prosperi Academy, linked to the company of the same name, Zimran Ltd, was misleading. In addition, users reported disputed subscription charges.
HOW ZIMRAN DEVELOPED
According to Qumash, the company was founded by Arman Nurgaziyev and Zhanibek Sydykov. In 2023, Nurgaziyev claimed that the business's annual revenue was approaching $20 million, with monthly revenue approaching $2 million.
The company developed educational apps for overseas markets, including Finelo, Coursiv and Prosperi Academy.
Journalists found that in February 2026 the Kazakh company Zimran Ltd. was renamed DevRock Ltd. According to the State Revenue Committee, its tax payments amounted to 28.7 million tenge in 2023, 171 million tenge in 2025 and 155 million tenge in 2026.
WHY THE BRITISH REGULATOR TOOK AN INTEREST IN THE ADVERTISING
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) examined advertising for Prosperi Academy published on 25 October 2024.
The video offered to teach people how to invest and become the first millionaire in their family. Viewers were shown an example in which an investment of $20 supposedly generated $974 in income.
The regulator considered that the advertising created the impression that a large sum could be earned quickly with a small investment. The warning about financial risks appeared in small print.
The ASA ruled the advertising misleading and required it to be changed. Representatives of Prosperi Academy explained that the results shown were examples of how an investment simulator works, not real profits.
WHAT LINKS WERE FOUND TO CYPRUS AND GENESIS
Documents from the British regulator showed that Zimran Ltd. had an address in Cyprus. Journalists also established that on 17 March 2025 a Cypriot company with that name was renamed FINELO LIMITED. No ownership data could be found.
The authors of the investigation also drew attention to the Zimran founders' links to the Ukrainian IT company Genesis. According to Nurgaziyev, his partner had previously been involved in developing that business.
In 2026, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit against Genesis Tech and related entities. According to the regulator, users of certain apps were not told the terms of their subscriptions, were charged additional fees and found it difficult to cancel them.
Among the services mentioned are MadMuscles, Unimeal, Wisey, PDF Guru and Nebula.
However, Zimran has not been established as being involved in the alleged violations by Genesis.
WHAT USERS COMPLAINED ABOUT
Journalists found complaints from Prosperi Academy users from 2023–2024. Some claimed that money was taken from their accounts via PayPal without confirmation of a subscription that they understood.
One user reported a charge of $59; another complained about an automatic payment after starting a course.
The accuracy of these complaints has not been independently confirmed.
WHAT THE NSC AND AFM SAID IN RESPONSE
The Qumash editorial team sent requests to the National Security Committee (NSC), Kazakhstan's Financial Monitoring Agency (AFM) and the company itself.
The NSC said it had no information on the matter.
The AFM responded:
"There are no pre-trial investigations into fraud by the private company DevRock Ltd."
Zimran itself had not provided a comment at the time the investigation was published.
Journalists also found a database analyst vacancy from DevRock Ltd. with a salary starting at 85,000 tenge. At the same time, according to Astana Hub management, the company employs around 300 specialists.
