Adventum Student Living raises additional $5 million
ASL, the holding company of the brands UniAcco, UniCreds and UniScholars, said it will use the funds to expand its presence internationally and enhance its product suite to manage the complete student lifecycle from application to accommodation
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Hyderabad: ASL, a leading study-abroad platform that owns the UniAcco, UniCreds and UniScholars brands, has raised a bridge equity round $5 million led by new investor Cornerstone Ventures (CSVP Fund) and existing investors as a bridge to its proposed Series B round of $20 million
ASL is a unified student lifecycle management platform assisting students in their application-to-accommodation journey with a digital-first approach. To date, ASL has benefitted over 500K students through its platforms.
The international student education market is estimated at $200 billion primarily dominated by tuition fees (nearly 40 per cent) and accommodation (nearly 25 per cent) as the largest categories. Globally, over 6-7 million students travel abroad for higher studies.
UniScholars has successfully placed students in more than 100+ universities worldwide, providing counselling and support services throughout the admissions process. UniCreds, an extended arm of UniScholars, has facilitated over $100 million in education loans through banking and NBFC partners, ensuring that financing is not a barrier to academic success. UniAcco, the other extended arm of UniScholars, offers the largest inventory of over 3.5 million student accommodation beds in the UK, EU, Canada, and Australia, working with leading property owners and managers to provide safe, comfortable, and affordable accommodation options to students. Together, these three platforms provide a comprehensive set of resources to support students in various aspects of their study abroad journey.
The new investment will enable ASL to continue its mission of transforming the student lifecycle while expanding its product offerings to meet the needs of students, universities, educators, and administrators. The investment will also be used to strengthen its position and build deeper partnerships in key geographies of the UK, EU, Canada, Australia, and USA.
"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 per cent y-o-y growth since then. We will continue to unify student journeys on our platform and strengthen our product portfolio across geographies." Amit Singh, founder, and CEO of ASL stated.
"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 by evolving with their changing needs. Our primary focus will now be profitability and organic growth for all three brands" Sayantan Biswas, Co-founder, ASL
“We love the execution capability and student-first approach of the founding team. It’s the only platform that has truly and successfully unified the entire student lifecycle right from application to accommodation and beyond at every step. Its hyper-personalized 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. Its enterprise pricing model, recurring revenues and profitable unit economics excited us to be a part of their journey!” said Vatsal Bavishi, Investment Director, Cornerstone Ventures.
ASL is the parent company of the leading study-abroad platforms - UniScholars, UniCreds and UniAcco. Founded in 2019 by Amit Singh and Sayantan Biswas, the three brands of ASL make an international students’ journey seamless by providing them 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. Followed by UniCreds, which has partnered with over 15 global lenders to provide the most affordable education loan in multiple currencies. Finally, the journey concludes with UniAcco, which helps students find an accommodation of their choice from 3.5 million+ beds across the globe.
