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Training and career growth: "The profession of a Methodologist from basics to mastery"
Find out moreAt the end of June, a webinar was held, organized by the Smart Ranking agency together with Lerna CIS, which is part of the Skillbox holding. The event focused on the development of the EdTech market in the CIS countries, as well as strategies for promoting Russian companies in this sector. Two countries received particular attention: Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The analysis presented during the webinar, as well as the participants' discussions, demonstrated that interest in educational products, especially online ones, is indeed high in these regions and will continue to grow. It is likely that many companies in the Russian EdTech sector can successfully expand their operations in these markets. However, entering neighboring countries is proving more challenging than it might initially appear from Russia. The webinar featured Dmitry Gavdur, CEO of Lerna CIS; Alisher Fozilov, Co-Founder and Commercial Director of SF Education; and Ekaterina Mareeva, Director of Regional Development at Sciencely. They suggested paying attention to a number of important aspects.
General Market Growth: Diversity of Directions in Different Segments
At the beginning of the webinar, Ksenia Zaitseva, Head of Research at Smart Ranking, presented the agency's first EdTech company rankings for Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Based on the data obtained, it can be concluded that both of these countries have actively developing markets. Moreover, unlike Russia, where the emphasis is primarily on educational products for children, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are seeing significant interest in courses aimed at acquiring professional skills for adults, including long-term continuing vocational education programs. Compared to the situation in Russia several years ago, the primary focus here is on mastering digital professions online, which is associated with the popular search for "entry into IT." Nevertheless, the markets of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan each have their own unique characteristics. Dmitry Gavdur shared his thoughts on the differences in demand for online education in the field of continuing professional education, analyzing current rankings. He singled out Uzbekistan as the most promising market for rapid growth in this sector. The level of development of digital professions in this country can be compared, albeit roughly, with that observed in the Russian and Belarusian regions in 2018-2019. There is a shortage of IT specialists in Uzbekistan, and the main interest in training is focused on traditional professions typical of the EdTech sector, such as programming, marketing, and design. Drawing on the experience of Lerna CIS, he noted that growth in the adult segment can reach tens of percent annually, while the children's segment is also actively developing due to a more favorable demographic situation compared to Russia and Belarus. "I am confident that we can expect a significant leap there," Gavdur added.
As for Kazakhstan, according to Dmitry Gavdur, the market for additional professional education for adults has already experienced the peak of passion for IT professions, but has not yet entered a phase of stagnation. The most significant opportunities in this market are associated not with traditional specialized courses, but with educational programs in the field of artificial intelligence. This is due to the implementation of several government initiatives, including a project to create the main AI hub in Central Asia.
In this regard, there is high interest in courses dedicated to mastering skills in working with generative neural networks, which are applicable in various professional fields. As part of the Lerna CIS project, which was launched in the spring of 2025 in collaboration with the Ministry of Education of Kazakhstan and the Astana IT Hub, over 100,000 participants have completed training in neural networks.
Creating a local team as a key factor for scaling
Russian EdTech companies find the markets of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan very attractive, as they offer broad horizons for advancement. Unlike Russia, where social media advertising is limited, these countries offer ample opportunities. However, this doesn't mean marketing efforts don't require careful consideration—each country has its own unique characteristics. As Ksenia Zaitseva and Dmitry Gavdur emphasize in their report based on Smart Ranking data, Telegram occupies a crucial position in Uzbekistan. This messenger is one of the main sources of traffic and serves as a full-fledged platform for educational courses. Apparently, the availability of native LMSs for online education in the country is limited due to insufficient internet speeds (although, as Dmitry Gavdur noted, this is gradually improving). Therefore, simple courses offered through messengers are becoming more popular.
To promptly recognize and effectively leverage local specifics, it is crucial to have team members with experience in the specific market. This means that when opening branches in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, it is essential to engage local specialists. While the idea of building a local team is generally accepted in the context of scaling a business abroad—for example, when Russian EdTech companies attempted to expand in Latin America or Southeast Asia several years ago—this aspect is not always clearly understood when entering the CIS markets. As Alisher Fozilov noted, speaking Russian with residents of neighboring countries does not imply similar marketing characteristics to those of Russian audiences. In fact, there are differences that may not be obvious to an outside observer. Alisher Fozilov asserts that SF Education successfully accomplished this task by transferring marketing and other responsibilities to Lerna CIS. Lerna CIS currently offers a full-fledged service capable of supporting the scaling of EdTech projects in the CIS, drawing on its extensive experience in countries such as Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Experience has shown that this solution is highly effective for companies unwilling to invest heavily in building a team in a new country.
The webinar also examined the case of Sciencely, which ultimately decided to attract local specialists in Kazakhstan. Ekaterina Mareeva explained that Sciencely's primary focus is organizing offline groups and laboratories where schoolchildren can study natural sciences, although they also offer online formats. This product can be considered universal, as specific cultural aspects in physics and chemistry are not critical, allowing the company to successfully expand its operations in various countries.
However, to successfully launch and grow, it is necessary to establish strong connections with multiple local stakeholders, and relying on social media alone is not enough. For example, when a company enters a new market, it often resorts to event marketing—hosting free science festivals for its target audience and actively seeking potential partners.
"Most often, we either go to the city ourselves or engage a local specialist who is well-versed in the cultural environment. Several months before the project launch, they hold meetings with key figures who may prove useful. These could be directors of educational institutions or representatives of organizations with which we could collaborate. For example, if we have environmental initiatives, we will collaborate with companies involved in sustainable development," said Ekaterina Mareeva.
The Need to Expand the Range of Russian-Language Products for Full-Fledged Growth
All those present at the webinar shared observations from their practice, pointing to the growing interest in educational materials in the Kazakh language in Kazakhstan. Dmitry Gavdur noted that this is one of the most noticeable trends of recent years, and, according to Smart Ranking's analytical data, this growth is indeed taking place.
Ekaterina Mareeva, drawing on Sciencely's experience, noted two important aspects. The first concerns organizations engaged in offline projects, as the audience can vary significantly depending on the region. For example, in Almaty, the company's clubs were initially aimed at Russian-speaking clients, but an attempt to launch a program in Kazakh proved unsuccessful due to low demand. This indicates that the primary target audience, consisting of families with school-aged children, primarily speaks Russian. Meanwhile, in other cities of Kazakhstan, such as Shymkent, where Sciencely plans to open a new branch, the situation is different. There, products will be offered in both languages.
The second aspect worth noting concerns EdTech companies offering exclusively online products. Focusing solely on an audience of people who have left Russia is not a good idea when approaching the CIS market. The temptation to target this group is understandable, as it seems like the easiest way to enter new markets. Ekaterina points out that while attracting this audience may indeed be easy, it will quickly become depleted, as it represents a rather limited segment. Subsequently, expanding to a broader audience will be difficult.
The Relevance of Traditional Business Models: Are They Worth Relying On?
Alisher Fozilov expressed his radical position on the future of Russian EdTech companies in the CIS markets, stating that they need to completely change their approaches and reconsider existing business models. He believes that EdTech startups from other CIS countries currently have a greater chance of successfully competing in the Russian market than Russian companies in neighboring markets. Fozilov justified his pessimistic view on the prospects for scaling Russian EdTech companies by citing the fact that many of them were unable to adapt to the decline in venture capital valuations that occurred in 2022, and that most educational institutions in Russia lack the funds to experiment in new markets.
"Why is this happening? The answer lies in the fact that the business model isn't viable, and the unit economics aren't profitable," he asserts. "In Russia, EdTech companies are faced with an excessive diversity of products, and especially in adult education, this creates significant difficulties in supporting all these educational offerings. As a result, we're seeing curricula become obsolete." As I mentioned at one of the forums a year ago, the EdTech market is essentially transforming into traditional adult education in Russia, since the working methods, processes, product development, and approaches are initially outdated."
Alisher believes that EdTech participants in Russia and the CIS should realize that online education has become a widespread product, and, accordingly, its cost should be reduced. In Russia, this issue only began to be discussed in the context of lending restrictions due to the rise in the key interest rate. However, in the Uzbek market, it is necessary to initially offer smaller, more accessible products. Firstly, there is interest in short-term courses aimed at learning specific skills. Secondly, selling long-term courses is riskier, as Alisher explained: "It doesn't quite make sense to convince someone to buy a course that costs thousands of dollars if their salary is significantly lower. Although the bank may approve the loan, it will most likely be their fifth or sixth loan." He added that in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan, high average sales can only be achieved through upselling new short-term products and increasing customer LTV (lifetime value).
Alisher Fozilov's presentation generated keen interest among the other webinar participants. However, Dmitry Gavdur expressed disagreement on several points. He noted that Lerna CIS's experience demonstrates that Russian EdTech products, slightly adapted but not completely re-created, are successfully sold in the CIS markets. This indicates that lengthy courses and traditional approaches adopted in Russia are not at all ineffective in these regions.
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- A report on the rating of companies in the field of educational technologies for the first quarter of 2025 has been released.
- The situation with interest in educational programs in the field of information technology continues to evolve. In recent years, there has been a steady increase in the demand for specialists with IT skills. This trend is driven by a number of factors, including the rapid development of technology, the digitalization of business, and the need for companies to adapt to modern market requirements.
Many people looking to change their careers or improve their skills are turning to IT courses. These programs offer a variety of areas, such as programming, web development, data analytics, and cybersecurity. In response to growing demand, educational institutions and online platforms are increasing the number of available courses and updating their learning materials to meet modern requirements.
Also important is the dynamics of the labor market, where employers are actively seeking qualified technology professionals. This creates additional incentives for education, as many seek employment opportunities in highly paid and in-demand fields. As a result, we are seeing not only an increase in the number of students but also a shift in attitudes toward IT professions as promising and stable.