- Kitchener, Ontario, Canada-based SaaS recruitment platform company ApplyBoard announced it raised $75 million at a $1.4 billion valuation
ApplyBoard, a Kitchener, Ontario, Canada-based SaaS recruitment platform company that is focused on helping international students gain higher education, announced it raised $75 million at a $1.4 billion valuation according to Crunchbase.
The funding round and valuation was confirmed by CEO and co-founder Martin Basiri. Including this round of funding, ApplyBoard has raised a total of about $122.5 million.
Who invested in this round? Columbus, Ohio-based Drive Capital led the round and they were joined by Fidelity Investments Canada ULC, and Business Development Bank of Canada. Plus existing investors Anthos Capital, Artiman Ventures, Garage Capital, and Plug and Play Tech Center joined the round.
The company was founded by brothers Martin Basiri, Meti Basiri, and Massi Basiri in 2015. They came up with the idea while dealing with personal educational challenges faced after coming to Canada as international students from Iran.
ApplyBoard has an interface that is similar to travel websites, but it enables students interested in education to select from various programs. And students anywhere in the world interested in pursuing education in different countries can answer questions about their grades, language scores, skills, etc. through ApplyBoard.
Martin Basiri told Crunchbase that this process saves students hours of time on discovery and application. And ApplyBoard also works as a notification center and provides applications with documents required for visas.
ApplyBoard generates revenue through commissions with postsecondary institutions based on landed students. Currently, ApplyBoard works with more than 1,200 postsecondary institutions and 4,000 recruitment partners. Over 100,000 students apply to school through the platform and they paid zero fees.
With this round of funding, ApplyBoard plans to invest in its technology and partner with educational institutions in new destination countries. And the company also wants to increase its presence in the UK and source students in more markets.
Currently, ApplyBoard has 400 employees working in 20 countries, up 2.5 times from its headcount this time last year.
“ApplyBoard is the only place where international students can discover and apply to college online, and in turn, is the only digital customer acquisition channel for colleges and universities,” said Drive Capital Partner Nick Solaro in an interview with Crunchbase. “By building this digital channel, ApplyBoard is in the flow of funds for the $100 billion a year spent on tuition by international students in the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia.”
