May 25 (SeeNews) - Romanian education technology (edtech) startup Youni said that it has established two new offices abroad, in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, following an 80,000 euro ($86,216) investment mostly allocated to operations, HR and marketing.
Youni also plans to expand further within Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), with Poland and Hungary being the next two targeted markets, the company said in a press release on Wednesday.
"We chose to expand our operations in the two former Soviet states because a significant number of students have international aspirations but they are facing informational and operational barriers. At the same time, we have seen an increasing interest from students in these countries for Romanian universities," Youni COO and co-founder, Stefan Tapescu, said.
The company is also aiming to diversify the markets where it operates and strengthen its portfolio of destination countries, Tapescu added.
Youni offers an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered match-making platform where students can find and apply to universities while getting connected with a global educational community.
This school year alone, the company attracted scholarships amounting to more than $15 million (13.9 million euro) for Romanian students, both in the US and Europe. In the previous school year, Youni recorded a 100% acceptance rate at the advised students’ selected universities.
Founded in 2017, Youni has provided services to over 14,000 students and pupils. Since 2020, the company has received investments worth 1.2 million euro, with local venture capital firm Early Game Venture (EGV) as the main investor, joined by investment funds Simple Capital and angel investors with a technology track record.
($=0.9279 euro)