Waterloo-based ApplyBoard, creators of an AI-enabled recruitment platform that helps international students apply to post-secondary programs in North America, has announced $55 million in Series B funding. This comes just one year after the company raised $17 million in Series A.

This new investment will help the fast-growing company further develop its platform and accelerate expansion into new markets. They also plan to hire more than 100 new employees in their Waterloo and international offices.

ApplyBoard launched with a mandate to make education accessible to students around the world. This mandate stems from the challenges the company’s three co-founders faced as Iranian students pursuing post-secondary education in North America. Their platform now assists students with program and institution selection, documentsubmission, application and obtaining a visa. International academic applications were clearly an untapped market – since the company’s founding in 2015 it has built partnerships with more than 1,200 secondary and post-secondary institutions across North America and they’ve already helped more than 45,000 students.

“At ApplyBoard, we believe education is a right, not a privilege. Everything we do revolves around putting students first,” said Martin Basiri, Co-Founder and CEO of ApplyBoard, in the company’s press release. “Our dedication to making a difference in students' lives is evident by the tremendous growth we’ve experienced in the past four years. I am incredibly proud of what our team has accomplished and look forward to continuing our momentum with this new investment.”

ApplyBoard is just the latest scaling success story in Waterloo. Just a few months ago, five local companies were included on a list of Canada’s highest-potential tech firms, and companies like North and eSentire have announced significant new raises. Waterloo was also recently recognized as the best place in Canada to start a tech company and CBRE called our unique mix of tech talent quality and cost “exceptional.”

Read more about ApplyBoard's announcement from BetaKit, the Globe and Mail or Communitech.

Related articles: