ApplyBoard company profile: valuation, funding & revenue

This ApplyBoard company profile covers the company's valuation, revenue, funding rounds, investors and history. ApplyBoard works in education technology, with a focus on international student recruitment. It was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Its latest valuation on record is C$4 billion (about US$3.2 billion) at Series D; reported to have fallen below US$1 billion by 2024 (June 2021 / 2024). Every figure links to a public source, and anything the company hasn't disclosed is marked as such.

Revenue

Funding history

ApplyBoard timeline

Key dates from the sources on this page, oldest first. Metric snapshots are listed after the funding events.

• 2015 — ApplyBoard is founded in Kitchener by Martin Basiri, Meti Basiri and Massi Basiri.
• 2020 — Series C: About US$75M, valuing the company at About US$1.4B.
• Jun 2021 — Series D: C$375M (about US$300M), including a secondary component, valuing the company at C$4B (about US$3.2B). Investors: Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, through its Teachers' Innovation Platform (lead).
• Sep 2024 — Credit facility: C$100M.

Investors

Overview

ApplyBoard runs an online platform that matches international students with colleges and universities, mainly in Canada, the US, the UK and Australia, and helps them through the application process. Schools pay ApplyBoard a commission for students who enrol. Brothers Martin, Meti and Massi Basiri founded it in Kitchener, Ontario in 2015, drawing on Martin's own experience of applying to study abroad.

ApplyBoard is one of the clearest recent examples of how much a private company's value can depend on government policy outside its control.

Funding history

ApplyBoard grew very fast in its first five years and became a unicorn in 2020, raising about US$75 million at roughly a US$1.4 billion valuation.

In June 2021 it raised a C$375 million (about US$300 million) Series D at a C$4 billion valuation, roughly US$3.2 billion. Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan led it through its Teachers' Innovation Platform. Part of the round was secondary, letting employees and early investors sell some shares.

In September 2024 it secured a C$100 million credit facility, debt rather than equity, as it moved to reduce its reliance on English-speaking study destinations.

What happened to the valuation

From 2023 onwards, Canada, Australia and the UK all tightened rules on international students in different ways. Canada introduced caps on study permits, and fewer applications were approved. For a business paid per enrolled student, that hit revenue directly.

Press reports in 2024 said ApplyBoard's valuation had fallen by around 74%, to under US$1 billion. The company cut staff several times: about 6% of its global workforce in November 2022, about 4% in September 2024, and more than 150 people in 2025. It attributed the 2025 cuts to policy changes across major study destinations.

Note that a reported fall in valuation is usually based on investor mark-downs or secondary trading, not a new priced round. Unless a company raises again, its "official" valuation from its last round can stay the same on paper while the real market value changes a lot.

Revenue: what's public

ApplyBoard hasn't published its revenue, and we haven't found a reliable company-reported figure. Its revenue depends on the number of students who enrol through the platform, so government data on study permits and student visas is one of the best public signals of how the business is doing.

Lessons for founders and investors

• Concentration risk isn't only about customers. A single policy decision in one country can change a company's outlook. Investors increasingly ask founders how exposed they are to regulation.
• Peak valuations create pressure. Raising at C$4 billion sets a high bar. When the market moves against you, a big preference stack and a high last-round price make the next round harder.
• Debt can buy time. A credit facility avoids pricing a down round while the company adjusts. See our bridge round guide for the trade-offs.

How international student recruitment works

Colleges and universities in countries like Canada, the US, the UK and Australia rely heavily on international students, who often pay much higher tuition than domestic students. Recruiting them has traditionally depended on networks of local agents in countries such as India, Nigeria, the Philippines and Vietnam, who advise students and help with applications, earning commissions from schools. ApplyBoard built a platform that connects those agents and students with thousands of programs, standardises applications and helps with visas and other steps. Schools pay ApplyBoard a commission for students who enrol, and ApplyBoard shares part of that with recruitment partners.

The model scales well when student flows are growing: more applications mean more enrolments and more commissions. It's highly exposed to anything that reduces those flows, such as visa caps, processing delays, stricter rules on work permits for graduates, or political changes in destination countries.

Competitive landscape

ApplyBoard competes with other student recruitment platforms, large traditional agent networks, and schools' own international recruitment teams. As major destinations have tightened their policies, competition for the remaining students has intensified, and platforms have looked to diversify into countries with more open policies and into services beyond recruitment, such as financial products for students and support services after arrival.

Policy changes in study destinations

Since 2023, several major English-speaking destinations have changed their rules. Canada introduced caps on the number of new study permits and tightened requirements, citing pressure on housing and concerns about program quality. Australia and the UK also tightened rules in different ways. For a business paid per enrolled student, the combined effect is large. It's why ApplyBoard has emphasised other destinations and why its reported valuation fell sharply from the 2021 peak.

What to watch next

Watch government data on study permits and student visas in the main destinations, which is the best public indicator of ApplyBoard's core market. Also watch for diversification into new countries and services, further cost changes, and any new funding, partnership or sale. A new priced transaction would establish a current valuation to replace the 2021 figure.

Key facts at a glance

ApplyBoard is a Kitchener, Ontario company founded in 2015 by brothers Martin, Meti and Massi Basiri. It became a unicorn in 2020, raised a C$375 million Series D led by Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in 2021 at a C$4 billion valuation, and took a C$100 million credit facility in 2024. Press reports in 2024 said its valuation had fallen below US$1 billion as international student policies tightened, and it made several rounds of layoffs between 2022 and 2025.

What this means if you're…

Selling to ApplyBoard: a company diversifying into new markets and cutting costs looks for tools with fast payback and anything that helps it move into new study destinations.

A school or education partner: ApplyBoard's push beyond English-speaking countries may bring new partnership opportunities.

Researching companies: ApplyBoard is a good case study in using public policy data to judge a private company's performance. See how to research a private company.

Latest developments (October 2026)

ApplyBoard has not announced new funding, and its business continues to face the effects of Canada's caps on international student permits and plans to reduce temporary residents, which have cut demand in one of its biggest destination markets. The company has diversified toward other destinations and AI tools: in February 2026 its research team won a Best Paper Award at the IEEE International Conference on Pattern Recognition Systems for work on AI document extraction, and in November 2025 it published its fifth annual Trends Report on international education.

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from the public sources below. Where sources disagreed, we used the company's own announcement or a primary news report. Private-company data changes; check the date beside each figure.

1. Business Wire
2. Wikipedia
3. BetaKit
4. Crunchbase News