ApplyBoard Year in Review 2023

Illustration of three ApplyBoardians looking at a laptop .

In 2023, ApplyBoard helped more students than ever before fulfill their study abroad dreams—and a remarkable 750,000 students to date since 2015. Our commitment to assisting students in achieving their aspirations, coupled with creating innovative solutions for our partner schools across our five destination countries and global network of recruitment partners, has marked a transformative year in ApplyBoard’s books. Let’s reflect on some of the highlights that made this year special!

Jimmy Battaglia, Founder and Head of TrainHub speaking to a conference participant at the TrainHub booth in ApplyBoard's section.

Jimmy Battaglia, Founder and Head of TrainHub, attends ICEF Berlin.

Full Integration with TrainHub

In 2023, a year after ApplyBoard’s acquisition of TrainHub, the two fully integrated their platforms, resulting in a game-changer for the international education sector. ApplyBoard now offers unprecedented, free access to TrainHub’s library of training materials to the more than 6,500 recruitment partners in our global network, helping to improve outcomes for the students our recruitment partners support.

TrainHub is flexible and can be used as a Learning Management System. The TrainHub x ApplyBoard integration also offers the academic institutions we work with precise tracking of partner training, control over access to materials, and significant time savings. 

ApplyBoard’s Chief Executive Officer, Meti Basiri, shared that “the ApplyBoard Platform is building an ecosystem of solutions designed to improve the study abroad journey. TrainHub bridges a very important gap in the industry: the facilitation and training of recruitment partners.” 

This collaboration brings unparalleled scale to training access for recruitment professionals, helping to ensure accurate student counselling. This is only the start, as TrainHub has a number of exciting developments already in the works for 2024.

New Collaboration with British Council IELTS

ApplyBoard teamed up with the British Council IELTS this year to revolutionize the journey from testing to studying abroad. Students taking the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) through the British Council now get a personalized program of study and study abroad destination match via ApplyBoard’s Program Matcher tool. This new process opens doors to tailored opportunities that align with students’ goals, such as their dream study location and preferred academic program. 

ApplyBoard’s user-friendly platform offers a choice of over 1,750 partner institutions and a whopping 140,000 academic programs, which are now at the fingertips of IELTS test takers. Andrew Mackenzie, Head of IELTS at British Council, noted that “as a fast-growing organization at the forefront of educational innovation, we are confident ApplyBoard’s services will further enhance the experience of British Council IELTS test-takers, equipping them with an advanced tool to choose the next steps of their journey.” 

Program Matcher: After answering a series of questions, students get four specialized program recommendations that suit their unique requirements.

Program Matcher: After answering a series of questions, students get four specialized program recommendations that suit their unique requirements.

Innovative Products Like Program Matcher

With all the international students we’ve helped along their study abroad journeys, we know that finding the ideal program or institution can sometimes be a challenge! To make this process a little easier, we launched the Program Matcher tool, which is designed to streamline the search for the perfect study abroad program.

How does it work? Users answer questions about academic background, goals, and preferences. The artificial intelligence-powered Program Matcher then offers four personalized program recommendations, considering factors such as budget, qualifications, and preferences. With over 140,000 programs across five countries to choose from, Program Matcher ensures tailored results. While it can be used without an account, registering for a free ApplyBoard account enhances precision.

Celebrating Our Core Values All Year Long

ApplyBoard’s core values are our compass—aka our guiding principles—in our mission to educate the world. They align with our strategy, mission, and goals, and unite us in a shared sense of purpose as we work together as one team to break down barriers to education all around the world.

We shone a spotlight on our core values throughout 2023, including celebrating ApplyBoardians who go above and beyond to embody them through our Core Values in Action video series.

Meet these incredible individuals featured in Core Values in Action!

For the second year running, we also handed out the Annual ApplyBoard Core Values Awards to ApplyBoardians in the Americas & Europe and APAC who go the extra mile to model our values in the incredible work they do every day.

Our Annual Core Values Award winners in the Americas and Europe take the stage.

Our Annual Core Values Award winners in the Americas and Europe take the stage.

Americas & Europe Winners

  • Caring About Each Other Award: Darryl Jam, Senior Director of Finance
  • Making Work Fun Award: Paul Mason, Director, Security Analysis
  • Helping Students Achieve Success Award: Rachel Lund, Associate Manager, CX
  • Delivering an A+ Customer Experience Award: Greg Errey, Senior Manager, IT, and Abuzar Arshi, Project Manager
  • Taking Ownership Award: Gaurav Sharma, Senior Manager, International Recruitment, and Mohammad Hamrah, Software Engineer
  • Innovating and Improving Award: Siddhartha Sengupta, Product Manager 5
  • Ambassador Award: Keaton Katic, Marketing Communications Specialist
  • Founders Award: Megan Fallows, Knowledge Management Specialist II
Our APAC Core Values Award winners show off their well-deserved awards.

Our APAC winners show off their well-deserved awards.

APAC Winners

  • Caring About Each Other Award: Smriti Srivastava, Human Resources Business Partner
  • Making Work Fun Award: Kripali Kulkarni, Project Manager II 
  • Helping Students Achieve Success Award: Neil Sarte, Senior International Recruitment Manager
  • Delivering an A+ Customer Experience Award: Yash Kumar, Application Specialist
  • Taking Ownership Award: Gurpreet Sallan, Associate Manager, International Recruitment
  • Innovating and Improving Award: Akshita Arora, Education Credential Team Lead
  • Ambassador Award: Anuj Mittal, Director of Customer Experience
  • Founders Award: Rashi Mathur, Senior Manager, International Recruitment
International Alumni of Impact celebrates the stories of former international students who studied in Canada and have gone on to make a positive impact in their community.

International Alumni of Impact celebrates the stories of former international students who studied in Canada and have gone on to make a positive impact in their community.

Launched Our International Alumni of Impact Program (IAOI)

We were thrilled to launch our International Alumni of Impact (IAOI) program earlier this year! IOAI celebrates the stories of former international students who studied in Canada and who have gone on to make a positive impact in their community.

From teachers to entrepreneurs and government officials, these inspiring individuals came to Canada to pursue their study abroad dreams from countries like Bangladesh, Guatemala, Nigeria, and the Philippines. Now, they’re actively building their communities and shaping the future for the next generation of leaders. 

This year’s incredible IAOI winners were:

  • Anjo Colago, the Philippines – 2021 graduate from Coast Mountain College
  • Asif Hossain, Bangladesh – 2018 graduate from the Justice Institute of British Columbia
  • Chetanya Sharma, India – 2021 graduate from the University of Ottawa
  • Christine Qin Yang, China – 2014 graduate from Mount Saint Vincent University
  • Gurpreet (GP) Singh Broca, India – 2018 graduate from Cambrian College
  • Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Nigeria – 2012 graduate from the University of Waterloo
  • Kajol Bhatia, United Arab Emirates –  2020 graduate from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology
  • Ramneet Brar, India – 2017 graduate from George Brown College
  • Walter Alvarez-Bardales, Guatemala – 2020 graduate from Cape Breton University
  • Woohyung (Roy) Cho, South Korea – 2020 graduate from Vancouver Community College

Explore their incredible journeys—you might find inspiration for your own study abroad adventure!

Scholarships were awarded in each of their names to deserving incoming international students who secured their acceptance to their respective institutions through ApplyBoard for Summer and Fall 2023. These scholarships aim to support the next generation of international leaders, giving them a helping hand as they pursue their dreams and positively impact their communities.

Named One of Canada’s Enterprise—Industry Leaders in Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50™

We were thrilled to share that ApplyBoard was recognized as an Enterprise—Industry leaders award winner in the prestigious 2023 Deloitte Technology Fast 50™ program

This is the fifth consecutive year that ApplyBoard has ranked as one of Canada’s fastest-growing companies, but it is the first year we’ve been named to the distinguished Enterprise—Industry leaders category. This leadership category recognizes the enterprise-level fastest-growing companies by revenue-growth percentage over their last four years of operation.

As the 10th fastest-growing company on this list, our move up to the Enterprise—Industry leaders category reflects our continued growth as a mature tech company. Additionally, ApplyBoard has ranked 282 on the 2023 Deloitte Technology Fast 500, which celebrates North America’s fastest-growing technology, media, and telecommunications companies.


As we reflect on an amazing year at ApplyBoard, we extend a heartfelt thank you to our dedicated team members, recruitment partners, and partner schools for their collective work in making education more accessible for all. Cheers to an extraordinary year and an exceptional 2024!

Want to join our innovative team? Explore our open roles on the ApplyBoard Careers page!