University Compare crowd funding seeking growth
Essex-born entrepreneur Owen O’Neill is raising £75,000 for his ed-tech start up University Compare via the online crowd funding platform Seedrs.
Owen has previously raised £150,000 via SEIS in February 2014 and is now looking to scale University Compare dramatically with additional crowd funding from public investors.
University Compare helps thousands of students choose the right course at the right institute by offering statistics across 28,000 courses at 265 institutions. The multi-platform service helps users filter results while reading feedback from thousands of students that have already attended the university the user is interested in.
University Compare was founded in June 2012 and since then has gone from strength-to-strength, boasting incredible student engagement and is now, socially, the strongest higher education platform online.
Owen commented: “The education market is worth a staggering £1bn and we’re addressing a £100m university advertising budget that is consistently increasing every year. Not only do I feel that University Compare is being innovative and launching products to market first but we’re connected with students on the platforms that matter the most, such as Twitter, Facebook and Vine.”
University Compare is live on Seedrs and is asking for £75,000 for a 10% equity stake in the business, valuing University Compare at £750,000 (pre-money).
Owen studied graphic design at college and then went on to study computing at Anglia Ruskin University. It was throughout his university application process where the idea for a more diverse, intelligent platform began.
“Our competitors are completely out of touch with what students want, the education market is finally maturing and it’s now time to disrupt this market heavily, that would probably explain why we have more social power than all of our competitors combined. We’re cool, fun, and practical. I’m extremely confident that University Compare will be the TripAdvisor of education,” says Owen.
University Compare believes that by the end of August 2016 that they will reach 50,000 members and will have helped over 1 million students chose a course at university. The website also wishes to expand its university and course directory into Europe by March 2016 in which it aims to become the EU and UK market leader for any prospective student looking for an undergraduate course.
