Billion dollar business helping international students gain better access to higher education
Brothers Martin, Meti and Massi Basiri, they all left Iran to study abroad in Canada. After struggling and stumbling through every aspect of the process from University Applications, converting grades and transcripts all the way through the cumbersome visa procedure, they saw this as an opportunity to streamline it. Their personal struggles led to the birth of their brainchild ‘ApplyBoard’ in 2015, created to make the International Application process for students a bit more seamless.
‘Simplify’ is the buzzword and objective at ApplyBoard. App was designed to make the search for International applicants a lot easier, followed by the application and acceptance process by connecting prospective students and academic institutions on a single platform by trying to eliminate red tapes and bureaucratic and administrative delays.
Platform is completely free for students. However, the startup makes money from revenue-sharing agreements with colleges and universities. If a student gets enrolled and chooses to attend one of the educational institution through their platform, they get a pre-agreed cut of the tuition fee.
Since their launch in 2015, the company has assisted over 120,000 students across 110 countries to secure admissions and enroll internationally. It has over 30,000 programs, partnered with over 1,200 schools and 4,000 recruitment associates and continually adding to each category to expand options for international students.
In April 2020, the company raised USD 75 million at a valuation of USD 1.4 billion. These funds are geared towards product development, and extend ties with multiple universities across US, UK, Canada and Australia and broaden their presence in South America, Africa and South-East Asian countries.
By creating a digital channel of direct communication between international students and universities, ApplyBoard has earned itself a sweet spot and a slice of the USD 100 billion industry — the amount spent on tuition by international students in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. A sliver of that market share will help bump their profit margins and take them to new pinnacle. This B2B model is a win-win for everyone involved, ApplyBoard, international students and the education institutions.
A simple idea born from personal anguish to help alleviate layers of red tapes and streamline the process for future international students helped the Basiri trio to create a billion dollar empire in mere 5 years. Their efforts in coming up with a solution to a cumbersome process earned them their winning lottery.
