Kitchener startup ApplyBoard is tech sector’s new unicorn
Now valued at $2 billion, its platform connects foreign students with 1,200 colleges and universities in Canada, the U.S. and U.K.
WATERLOO REGION — After announcing a $100-million investment the Kitchenerbased startup ApplyBoard is now valued at $2 billion, making it the latest unicorn in Canada’s tech sector.
“We are going to invest in our technology, and we are going to invest in our team,” said chief executive officer Martin
Basiri, who co-founded the company with his brothers Meti and Massi.
This latest round of investment was led by Drive Capital. Other funds managed by Fidelity Investments Canada ULC, Business Development Bank of Canada, and existing investors including Anthos Capital, Artiman Ventures, and Plug and Play Tech Center participated in the $100million raise.
“We are excited our hard work has paid off,” said Basiri.
It brings to $170 million the total raised since the startup was founded in 2015, making it one of the best funded startups to come out of the region’s tech sector. The messaging app Kik, before it folded to focus on a cryptocurrency play, was the only other local startup to attain unicorn status.
Unicorns are startups that are valued at more than $1 billion — so rare they are named after the mythical horses of fantasy literature.
“I am very happy,” said Basiri. “My team worked very hard and they deserve it.”
The other publicly disclosed unicorns in Canada include Nuvei in Montreal and Coveo in Quebec City. Valuations are done by the venture capitalists investing in the startups.
“While it’s been clear from the beginning that something truly magical was developed at ApplyBoard, it’s now official and we couldn’t be more proud,” Iain Klugman, president and CEO at Communitech,
said.
“Unicorn status is an incredible achievement that speaks volumes not only about the passion and dedication within ApplyBoard, but also the entire tech ecosystem in Waterloo Region.”
ApplyBoard leases 50,000 square feet on three floors in the office building at 40 Weber St. East. It has 450 employees in 20 countries, but 300 are in downtown Kitchener. It has 100 vacant positions.
Basiri is from Shiraz, Iran, and found the application process was slow and complicated for foreign students eyeing post-secondary schools across North American and the U.K. It used to take foreign students up to 18 months to learn if they had been accepted by a Canadian university, but ApplyBoard reduces that to a single afternoon.
ApplyBoard tapped into a lucrative and stable market: foreign students make up about half of first-year university students in Ontario and they pay much higher tuition fees than residents.
It is the kind of market that Drive Capital likes to invest in. The venture capital firm started in 2013 and raised over $1 billion to invest in startups solving problems in large markets. Drive is an investor in more than 40 companies outside of Silicon Valley, including Root Insurance, Duolingo and KOHO.