Nia: 18-Year-Old Founder Raises £637k for AI Startup Revolution
Deal News | May 07, 2025 | Business Cloud
Nia, an AI startup founded by 18-year-old Arlan Rakhmetzhanov, secured £637,000 in pre-seed funding to develop autonomous engineering agents. Rakhmetzhanov, who is from Kazakhstan, taught himself to code and previously launched an educational platform. His dissatisfaction with current AI coding tools inspired him to create Nia, which aims to function as a more reliable and intuitive engineering assistant. Nia allows engineers to traverse code repositories efficiently, offering a more integrated and smart assistant experience. The funding round was led by LocalGlobe with participation from several other investors. The financial support will be used to expand Nia's technical capabilities and team, including hiring a founding engineer for backend AI infrastructure. Nia is already live in beta and aims to increase accessibility of their tool to engineering teams worldwide.
Sectors
- Technology
- Venture Capital
Geography
- United Kingdom – The startup Nia is headquartered in London, making the UK a central geography for the article.
- Kazakhstan – Founder Arlan Rakhmetzhanov hails from Kazakhstan, highlighting the international aspect of the startup’s origins.
Industry
- Technology – The article discusses Nia, an AI platform developing autonomous engineering agents, which places it squarely in the technology sector.
- Venture Capital – This pertains to the investment aspect of the funding raised for Nia, highlighting the involvement of venture capital firms like LocalGlobe.
Financials
- £637,000 – The total amount raised in the pre-seed funding round for the startup Nia.
Participants
| Name | Role | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nia | Target Company | Company | Nia is an AI platform focused on building autonomous engineering agents, founded by Arlan Rakhmetzhanov. |
| Arlan Rakhmetzhanov | Founder | Person | The 18-year-old founder of Nia, who taught himself coding and is now launching an AI engineering platform. |
| LocalGlobe | Leading Investor | Company | A venture capital firm leading the pre-seed funding round for Nia. |
| No Label Ventures | Investor | Company | Participating investor in the pre-seed funding round for Nia. |
| Andrena Ventures | Investor | Company | Participating investor in the pre-seed funding round for Nia. |
| Ventures Together | Investor | Company | Participating investor in the pre-seed funding round for Nia. |
| Eurasian Hub Ventures | Investor | Company | Participating investor in the pre-seed funding round for Nia. |
| Artificial Societies (YC W25) | Investor | Company | Participating investor in the pre-seed funding round for Nia. |
| Emma Phillips | Partner | Person | Partner at LocalGlobe who commented on Arlan Rakhmetzhanov's drive and ambition. |