Global edtech startup Unibuddy raises $20m Series B funding to reinvent college recruitment

Unibuddy, a peer-to-peer university recruitment platform that has helped 770,000 students from over 180 countries make better decisions about their higher education journey, has raised $20m in funding.

The Series B round was led by Highland Europe with additional participation from Stride.VC.  Unibuddy has raised a total of USD $32m since its inception in 2017.

This round comes on the heels of a record-breaking year for Unibuddy that saw the company almost triple its revenues. Accelerated by the pandemic, interest in the peer-to-peer platform and its products soared. Unibuddy’s growth is also indicative of a larger trend, as the rate of digital adoption within higher education marketing has skyrocketed: 82% of institutions are either engaging in, exploring or working to develop a digital transformation strategy.

Unibuddy has partnered with 450+ higher education customers to help prospective students applying to college in 35 countries worldwide. By connecting student ambassadors and staff with university applicants, institutions can attract a larger and more diverse student population as well as significantly increase student enrollment. The 12 million messages exchanged on Unibuddy to date have provided universities with insights that inform their marketing strategies.

Diego Fanara, co-founder and CEO of Unibuddy, said: “By 2025, our goal is to partner with institutions to empower 10 million students to progress on their higher education journey. We 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.  In particular, the 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.”