A听peer-to-peer university recruitment platform听is targeting global expansion with 拢15听million听of new funding.听
Unibuddy听has helped 770,000 students from听more than听180 countries make better decisions about their higher education journey.听
The Series B round –听led by Highland Europe with additional participation from Stride.VC – comes on the heels of a record-breaking year which saw the company almost triple its revenues, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.听听
When exploring a university鈥檚 website,听Unibuddy鈥檚听platform allows听applicants from anywhere in the world听to听chat with existing students and staff in real-time about a variety of topics.听听
Popular discussions on the platform centre听around fitting in, programs of study, employability upon graduation, student life, admissions requirements and testing criteria.听听
Unibuddy听has partnered with 450+ higher education customers to help prospective students applying to college in 35 countries worldwide.听听
In 2019, the company partnered with UCAS, the UK鈥檚 shared admissions service for higher education that manages almost three million applications from around 700,000 candidates each year.听It has more than 80% of UK institutions on board, including the University of Cambridge, Imperial College and King鈥檚 College London.听
The 12 million messages exchanged on听Unibuddy听to date have provided universities with insights that inform their marketing strategies.听In 2020, the number of messages sent by college applicants via the platform quadrupled compared to the prior year.听
鈥淏y 2025, our goal is to partner with institutions to empower 10 million students to progress on their higher education journey,鈥� said CEO and co-founder听Diego Fanara.听听
鈥淲e will triple the size of our engineering team, expanding our product suite and with it, our role in the higher education journey – from selecting a program, to onboarding to post-graduation.听听
鈥淚n particular, the听team will double down on efforts in the United States and APAC where there is a strong appetite for university admissions and recruitment teams to engage with both domestic and international students.鈥�听
More than 35% of prospective students chatting through听Unibuddy鈥檚听platform are based in the UK, which is also one of the top five markets for international student demand.听
Anum Akhtar, Student Recruitment Manager of Imperial College, commented: 鈥淭here are so many factors college-bound students must take into consideration when making one of the most important decisions in their lives.听听
鈥淲e鈥檙e proud to partner with听Unibuddy听to better understand our applicants, increase engagement and help us achieve our recruitment objectives in a challenging market. With听Unibuddy听47% of new prospects went on to apply after chatting with an ambassador.鈥�听
Fergal Mullen, partner at Highland Europe, said: 鈥淯nibuddy鈥檚听impressive list of institutional partners and growing participation from students around the world are indicative of the platform鈥檚 impact on university marketing and recruitment.听听
鈥淲e know from conversations with many听university administrators that听Unibuddy听delivers significant benefits by enabling them to more effectively target suitable student applicants and to improve yield on offers made.听听
鈥淲e also noted that听Unibuddy听positively impacts first-year retention which is a huge win for听universities. We鈥檙e excited to invest in disruptive products such as听Unibuddy听and the ambitious teams behind them.鈥�听