Overseas Edu Startup ASL Bags $5 Mn Funding To Strengthen Product Portfolio, Fuel Expansion

Edtech startup Adventum Student Living (ASL) has raised $5 Mn as part of a bridge funding round led by new investor Cornerstone Ventures. The round also saw participation from existing investors.  

ASL said the funding will enable it to expand its product range, strengthen presence and build deeper partnerships in key geographies of the UK, EU, Canada, Australia, and the US. 

Further, the current fundraise will serve as a bridge round for an upcoming $20 Mn Series B infusion it plans to undertake later.

Commenting on the funding, Amit Singh, founder, and CEO, ASL said, “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% YoY growth since then. We will continue to unify student journeys on our platform and strengthen our product portfolio across geographies.”.

Founded in 2019 by Amit Singh and Sayantan Biswas, ASL operates UniAcco, UniCreds and UniScholars brands. Together, the business operates as an aggregator, targeting students who wish to study abroad. The startup assists students from application to accomodation and claims to have served more than 5 Lakh students on its platform so far. 

The bridge round comes nearly a year after ASL bagged $5 Mn as part of its Pre-Series B funding round. The startup directly competes with the likes of players such as LEAP Scholar-owned Yocket, LeverageEdu and iSchoolConnect Technologies in the competitive segment.

According to a report, the Indian overseas education market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 15-20% by 2025, reaching a market size of nearly $35 Bn. Within this, tuition fee and accommodation continue to be the largest categories and account for a major chunk of the addressable market.  

As a result, the nascent space has also seen increasing interest from investors.  Last year, education planning platform EduFund bagged $1 Mn in a seed funding round. Afterwards in 2022 itself, another similar startup ForeignAdmits raised INR 3.26 Cr from Mumbai-based early-stage fund Unicorn India Ventures (UIV) and others.

In 2021, LEAP also picked a big investment of $55 Mn from marquee investors to strengthen its presence in the burgeoning space.