Singapore-based EdTech company Cialfo on Thursday announced it has secured a further $20 million in funding as part of a Series B extension led by United States-based investment firm Tiger Global.
The news follows January’s announcement of a $40 million round co-led by global investment firm Square Peg, and Australian-headquartered SEEK Investments. This brings the total raised to date to $77 million, including the initial $15 million in Series A funding in February 2021.
The latest funding will help the company to achieve its mission by increasing its investment in strategic markets and initiatives, including special scholarships for students in its global community, Cialfo said in a statement.
A $20 million target was initially set for the Series B round, and the team managed to triple this figure as demand for international student mobility and virtual college recruitment soared during the pandemic, it added.
“We are very excited to receive continued backing from the global investor community and we are grateful to Tiger Global for extending our Series B. Our full focus remains on evolving in a way that positively impacts our students, schools, and ultimately, society, with speed and at scale. This funding will help us to do just that. It naturally also will allow us to invest in continuous product development so we can deliver even more personalized and practical support to our community of students, counselors and universities. Importantly, growing our operations in critical markets, and expanding our 360 offerings to include scholarships, are among the ways we plan to capitalize on this infusion of capital, and give more back in return,” said Cialfo Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Rohan Pasari.
Cialfo provides transformative technologies, thinking and tools to students and schools – from K12 to universities – so they can more easily meet, manage the career exploration and college application process, and make educated decisions about their future. Nearly 200 Cialfolk work from the company’s headquarters in Singapore, at local offices in India, the United States, and China, as well as from nine other remote locations, to make higher education more accessible worldwide.
According to Cialfo, a short-term surge in EdTech spending, brought on by COVID-19, is expected to recalibrate to a longer-term integration of digital technologies by schools from K12 to universities, and to drive higher adoption rates of hybrid education experiences in the years ahead.
Cited Research and Markets, it said the global education technology sector is experiencing a digital transformation – with a predicted growth of up to 130 percent by 2027 – which is expected to benefit people across a wide range of socio-economic and geographic backgrounds. Among the first movers in virtual student engagement, and a specialist in Asian markets, Cialfo is well-positioned to capture this opportunity.
Cialfo platform currently connects over 250,000 high school students, their counselors, and families with over 1,000 colleges in 50 countries. With 85 percent of those students applying to three different countries – not colleges – the team has become renowned for its international student mobility capabilities. As a result, the brand also has quickly achieved trusted partner status with globally recognized universities such as Imperial College London in the United Kingdom, The University of Chicago in the United States, and IE University in Spain.
