Martin Basiri is the Co-Founder and CEO of ApplyBoard. He started the company with his brothers in 2015 with the mission to make education accessible to students around the world. ApplyBoard is a platform uniquely designed to empower international students to apply and study at the best higher education institutions globally. The company has helped over 190,000+ students apply to schools in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia. ApplyBoard closed its Series C funding round in March of 2020, and has since inception raised ~US$178M. 

From a young age, Martin has been an innovator - fascinated by solving complex problems and inventing new products. By the time he turned 14 he had already patented one of his several early projects, and since then he has continued to re-envision the world around him. His curiosity and passion drove him throughout his highschool years as he honed his skills and ranked number one in the National Youth Invention Festival. After high school, Martin attended Shiraz University to study electrical engineering. While there, Martin founded his first startup where he invented and sold 6 different products/patents before graduating.These inventions led him to receive the gold medal at the Geneva International Invention show in 2009. Not satisfied with just finishing his studies and running his business, he took on a teaching position to share his passion for innovation with more than 600 students. Martin left his home to study at the University of Waterloo in Canada where he attained his MASc in Mechatronics Engineering, and soon after began to develop ApplyBoard. 

Innovation and education have always been Martin’s main interests. At ApplyBoard, he combines both by eliminating the problems he and his brothers experienced as international students. Today, Martin and his 1,000+ teammates in 20 countries work with 1,200+ partner schools to make the application process more accessible to students all around the globe.

Speaking on: CANADA SUCCESS STORY; SPOTLIGHT ON APPLYBOARD