Gobi-backed startup wants to help students make better education choices

Edukasyon.ph founder Henry Motte-Munoz / Photo credit: Edukasyon

In the Philippines, exploring options for college and then applying for them takes weeks and even months. It requires students to sift through several websites – which are often not updated – and to manually mine information about each course.

This tedious process is a challenge, particularly in the Philippines where students already lack interest in school.

Having studied in the US and London, French-Filipino entrepreneur Henry Motte Munoz was surprised by these inefficiencies. “People don’t know how to shape their future, either because they don’t know what their options are or because they just listen to their parents. There’s just very little information available,” he shares.

This led the Harvard Business School graduate to start online platform Edukasyon.ph. The educational technology startup lists local and overseas schools, courses, and scholarships as well as allows students to apply with partner institutions.

It now lists over 13,000 schools and 4,000 scholarship programs on its website.

In January this year, Edukasyon raised a pre-series A round from Gobi-Core, the Philippine-focused venture fund formed by China-based Gobi Partners and Manila-based Core Capital. The startup previously secured funding from European investment firms Mustard Seed, French Partners, and KSR Ventures.

The startup

Edukasyon’s services are free and aimed at Generation Z – those aged 14 to 24.

The way it earns is by charging partner schools and universities a subscription fee for the ability to manage student inquiries and applications on the site. The fee also includes marketing videos and featured blog/social media posts created by the Edukasyon team. While this makes up the core of its revenue, the company also makes money from corporate partnerships and events.

Since its inception in 2015, Edukasyon has teamed up with over 500 academic institutions, including top Philippine colleges Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University, as well as international schools like University of Helsinki.

Without divulging concrete figures, the startup claims to have hit 3x annual revenue growth since 2017. It also counts 250,000 registered users and 1.5 million unique site visitors each month.

After its acquisition of archrival Find University in April, Edukasyon does not see any other challengers in the Philippines. Competitors like Eskwelahan, for example, have “much smaller traction,” according to Motte-Munoz.

Tackling the entire issue

Growing pains