UCL-based company changes the way students choose their place of study

Unibuddy is changing the way millions of students choose the right university for them, with its interactive digital platform.

Co-founded by UCL alumnus Kimeshan Naidoo and Diego Fanara, Unibuddy allows prospective students to chat and interact with existing students through an online platform. Now used by 500 universities in 35 countries, nine out of 10 students using the platform said they felt more confident about their university choice, according to user feedback. 

The idea for Unibuddy came about when Kimeshan and Diego moved from overseas to the UK. Kimeshan studied an MSc in Computer Science at UCL, and Diego a BSc in Investment and Financial Risk Management at Cass Business School. 

The pair had both found it difficult to make an informed university choice without being able to visit or easily talk to people studying there. So they hit on the idea of a platform, where prospective students could chat and interact with student ambassadors.  

Kimeshan, who is now Chief Technology Officer as well as co-founder at Unibuddy, explains: “We found that many universities already had student ambassadors, but they were only using them at open day tours, career fairs, orientations. So what we did was provide a way for them to bring their ambassadors onto an online platform designed specifically for them.”  

Unibuddy partners with universities and colleges on a subscription basis. Since launching with just five universities in 2017, they’ve grown exponentially to 500 partners, and raised $32 million in investment.  

Kimeshan and Diego launched their business at BaseKX, UCL’s dedicated entrepreneurship hub, run by UCL Innovation & Enterprise. They then moved into IDEALondon, UCL’s flagship tech hub (run in partnership with EDF and Capital Enterprise), which gives new businesses the support they need to grow in a commercially focused environment. 

Read the full story on the UCL Innovation & Enterprise website.

Links

• Unibuddy.
• Join UCL’s entrepreneurship hub, BaseKX (UCL single sign-on required). 
• Entrepreneurship support for UCL students and recent graduates.
• IDEALondon.

Back to the Entrepreneurship page

---