Cornerstone Ventures leads $5M funding in student lifecycle platform ASL
ASL, which is the parent of student lifecycle platforms UniScholars, UniCreds and UniAcco, will use the capital to expand globally as the co-founders set eyes on profitability.
Adventum Student Living (ASL), the parent company of UniScholars, UniCreds and UniAcco, has raised $5 million in a bridge equity funding round led by Cornerstone Ventures, with participation from existing investors.
The funding will support ASL's plans to raise a Series B round of $20 million. The company will use the capital to expand its product offerings to support students, universities, educators, and administrators in key geographies of the UK, EU, Canada, Australia, and the US.
"Our primary focus will now be profitability and organic growth for all three brands," said Sayantan Biswas, Co-founder, ASL. "In a time of market uncertainty, our existing and new investors have placed huge trust in us. We are committed to leveraging the funds received towards providing a seamless experience to students"
ASL is a unified student lifecycle management platform that digitises the students' journey from application to accommodation. To date, over 500,000 students have used its services.
Student loans platform has facilitated over $100 million in education loans through banking and NBFC partners, while study abroad service offers an inventory of over 3.5 million student accommodation beds in the UK, EU, Canada, and Australia. Meanwhile, the company said in a release that UniScholars has placed students in more than 100+ universities worldwide.
"Its (ASL's) hyper-personalised approach ensures that a student remains on the platform throughout its educational journey of 4-5 years and potentially expands into their early career as well," said Vatsal Bavishi, Investment Director, Cornerstone Ventures, adding, "Its enterprise pricing model, recurring revenues and profitable unit economics excited us to be a part of their journey!”
According to ASL, the international student education market is estimated at $200 billion, primarily dominated by tuition fees (~40%) and accommodation (~25%) as the largest categories. Globally, over 6-7 million students travel abroad for higher studies.
"Despite the economic challenges brought on by COVID-19, when many of our peers were struggling for survival, our business soared through the market turbulence and achieved an impressive 300% y-o-y growth since then," said Amit Singh, Founder and CEO of ASL.
ASL was founded in 2019 by Amit Singh and Sayantan Biswas. The three brands of ASL make an international student's journey seamless by providing them with a one-stop solution for all their study-abroad needs. The study abroad journey for students commences with UniScholars, a platform for test prep, counselling, university applications, course shortlisting, and visa assistance through 100+ expert counsellors.
Edited by Kanishk Singh