This week, Essex-born entrepreneur Owen O’Neill launched an equity crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs with a mission to raise £75,000 for his ed-tech startup, University Compare.
University Compare, which was founded in 2012, reportedly offers an unbiased service to students while providing a digital platform for universities to advertise directly to their chosen demographic. This year alone, it helped over 300,000 visitors.
The company has a number of services that reflect the year-long university application process from, including:
- Annual profiles
- Open day exposure
- Clearing/adjustment
- Social media exposure
During a recent interview with Talk Business Magazine, O’Neill shared details about University Compare:
“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.”
Also discussing the company’s competitors, O’Neill revealed:
“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.”
The media outlet noted that O’Neill and his team at University Compare believe 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.
University Compare is also seeks 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.
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