As a former international student himself, Jimmy Battaglia wanted to make the international education industry more accessible and efficient. That led him to launch the company that came to be TrainHub, an international education industry training ecosystem, software platform, and proprietary technology, in June 2020.
In March 2022, ApplyBoard was thrilled to announce the acquisition of TrainHub. A year later, Jimmy and the rest of his passionate team are bringing TrainHub’s product and services to more schools and recruitment partners, ultimately easing the process for international students pursuing their study abroad dreams.
Keep reading and watch the video below to learn about his journey so far!
Please note that Jimmy’s responses have been edited for brevity.
From Ideation to Creation
Over thirteen years ago, Jimmy left Venezuela and came to Canada as an international student. As he was going through his study abroad journey, the agency that he worked with in Venezuela gave him all the information he needed at his fingertips to find the perfect program and school. However, he quickly realized this wasn’t the experience for many of his friends. Unfortunately, they weren’t recommended the right path for their goals and had to leave their study abroad dreams behind and return to Venezuela.
This inspired Jimmy to ensure recruiters helping a student on the life-changing journey to study abroad had frictionless access to the right information. “I don’t want anyone to go through what some of my friends had to when they tried to do their international study abroad experience,” he explained. It was this passion for breaking down barriers to international education that was ultimately the catalyst for creating TrainHub.
ApplyBoard Co-Founder, Meti Basiri, and Head of TrainHub, Jimmy Battaglia, at ApplyBoard Canada HQ.
Read about Xeniya Shirinova’s experience as an Engineering Manager at ApplyBoard!
Strengthening Our Mission Through Integration
Jimmy and the TrainHub Team were thrilled to recently celebrate the completion of TrainHub’s integration with the ApplyBoard Platform! Through the integration, ApplyBoard partner schools using TrainHub can start sharing their training materials with ApplyBoard’s vast network of more than 10,000 recruitment partners. In turn, ApplyBoard recruitment partners will have access to a growing portfolio of training materials from top schools around the world, providing them with the tools to better support their students. This will ultimately strengthen the international education sector by helping “schools keep track of how many of their recruitment partners have been trained and allowing them to access everything in one place.”
ApplyBoard recruitment partners have all the training they need on our partner schools to guide their students to make the best study abroad choice for them on the TrainHub Platform.
A Seamless Fit
Jimmy built TrainHub on the belief that every international student should have the same quality of opportunities when pursuing their study abroad journey. We hold the same belief close to our hearts here at ApplyBoard.
When asked which of ApplyBoard’s core values resonates with him the most, Jimmy didn’t hesitate when answering Helping Students Achieve Success. “There are people spending their whole savings, life savings,” he says, to pursue their dreams, or help their children realize their dreams of studying abroad. “Some parents are going into debt to provide their children with that experience abroad. So for me, Helping Students Achieve Success is the most important core value.” With everything that the TrainHub Team does, they’re “always thinking [that] if we reach that person that’s in front of the student and the RP has the right education, the right training, and we incentivize them enough, we know that it’s going to positively impact the lives of the students.”
As a former international student, Jimmy recognizes what’s on the line for international students and their families when pursuing their dreams of studying abroad. He wants to do everything possible to ensure they have the guidance they need when working with a recruiter along their study abroad journey.
Each day, Jimmy and the rest of the TrainHub Team are getting closer to ensuring recruiters have frictionless access to the right information they need to help students make the life-changing decision to study abroad. The sky’s the limit, and ApplyBoard is thrilled to be flying with Jimmy and the rest of the TrainHub Team!
Do you want to join us on our mission to Educate the World? Check out our open roles on the ApplyBoard Careers page!
