Cialfo
Singapore, SG · 188 employees on LinkedIn · 10 known investors
Cialfo is a platform for college and career exploration used by high school students, counselors, parents, and university recruiters to guide the college search and selection process. It operates in the education technology sector with a global network across international markets.
Also known as Cialfo Pte Ltd
Founders & leadership
Investors · 10
Also in the syndicate · 3
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Cialfo is a Singapore-headquartered education technology company that operates a college and career counseling platform used by high school students, school counselors, parents and university recruiters. The core K12 product centers on a student hub (Profile Builder, Discovery Center content, University Search, University Connect, bookmarks/shortlists, assessments and application tracking) and a counselor workflow layer (student management, college visit scheduling, tasks, insights and reporting, cDocs document submission, surveys, broadcasts and SIS integration). The company positions the platform as an all-in-one alternative to fragmented counseling workflows, and markets separate offerings for schools, universities and individual students.
A proprietary component, Direct Apply, lets students submit a single application form to university programs; company materials cite access to 75,000 programs across roughly 1,000 universities globally, alongside integrations with UCAS, Common App and Parchment. Cialfo also sells adviser support through "Cialfo Guides" and runs events and workshops. Company-published operating claims include 99.99% platform uptime on AWS infrastructure, a 7-second live-chat response time and 96% counselor satisfaction; these are self-reported and unaudited.
As of its 2022 funding announcements, the platform connected more than 250,000 high school students and their counselors with over 1,000 colleges in 50 countries, and the company employed more than 170 people across Singapore, India, the United States and China.
Founding story
Co-founder and CEO Rohan Pasari experienced confusion and a lack of guidance while choosing a college, including moving from India to Singapore for university; he founded Cialfo with Stanley Chia (Singapore) and William Hund (Australia) to simplify college and career exploration. The company was officially formed/launched in 2017.
Business model
B2B2C software-as-a-service: schools license the K12 counseling platform for counselors and students, universities use the platform for student recruitment and virtual engagement, and students can access student-facing plans and adviser services. Direct Apply routes student applications to partner university programs.
Sources describe a SaaS product sold to schools and separate offerings for universities and students (including a student access plan), but do not disclose pricing, contract values or revenue figures.
Traction
Company materials cite students from more than 2,000 schools globally; 2022 press releases reported over 250,000 high school students connected with more than 1,000 colleges across 50 countries, trusted-partner status with Imperial College London, the University of Chicago and IE University, and more than 170 employees. Awards include EdTech Company of the Year at the EducationInvestor Awards Asia 2018, ETS's Outstanding Contribution Award for International Student Mobility, Great Place To Work certification in India and Singapore, and 2023-2024 recognitions from The PIE, TIME/Statista and HolonIQ.
Latest developments
The website notes an ongoing transition to an updated experience and markets an AI-powered counselor workflow platform. Recent recognitions listed by the company include finalist status at the 2024 PIEoneer Awards for Digital Innovation of the Year, inclusion in TIME and Statista's 2024 World's Top EdTech Companies, and serving as official technology partner of the 2024 IC3 Regional Forums.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Describes itself as a leading AI-powered platform for high school college counseling with specialization in Asian markets and international student mobility; recognized on HolonIQ's list of 50 most promising EdTech startups, TIME/Statista's 2024 World's Top EdTech Companies, and as a 2024 PIEoneer Awards finalist.
Combination of counselor workflow tooling with the proprietary Direct Apply single-form application channel to university programs, plus integrations with UCAS, Common App and Parchment, in-house admissions guides, and a stated focus on international, multi-country applications (the company reports 85% of its students apply to three different countries).
Technology
Cloud SaaS hosted on Amazon Web Services with claimed 99.99% uptime; TLS encryption in transit, Perfect Forward Secrecy, OWASP ruleset, bot protection and API rate limiting, enterprise DDoS mitigation, daily automated backups via Amazon RDS to SSAE 16 audited data centers, role-based authentication, git-based development with automated and staging test gates, and GDPR compliance claims. The platform markets AI-driven recommendations and AI-powered counselor workflows, and integrates with student information systems.
Go-to-market
Sold through school and university partnerships, with private consultations/demos, counselor-led events and college fairs, case studies from partner schools, and presence at sector forums such as the IC3 Regional Forums. Counselor testimonials from international schools in Canada, China, India and elsewhere are used as references.
K-12 and international high schools and their college counseling departments, heads of schools, high school students and their parents, and universities recruiting international students.
Geography
Headquartered in Singapore, with employees across Singapore, India, the United States and China as of 2022; the team reports presence in 100+ international markets, and the platform covers universities in 50+ countries with school users in regions including Asia, North America and Europe.
History
Formed in 2017 in Singapore. It won EdTech Company of the Year at the EducationInvestor Awards Asia in 2018, raised a US$15 million Series A in February 2021, and a US$40 million Series B in January 2022 led by Square Peg and SEEK Investments with existing investors SIG Global, Vulcan Capital, DLF Venture, January Capital and Lim Teck Lee participating. In March 2022 Tiger Global led a US$20 million extension that took the Series B to US$60 million and cumulative funding to US$77 million; the round had originally targeted US$20 million. Direct Apply was flagged as a 2022 product enhancement and is now a core platform feature.
Risks & controversies
No controversies are documented in the available sources. Most performance and scale figures are self-reported by the company; several key metrics date from 2022 press releases and may be stale. No revenue, profitability or post-money valuation data is disclosed.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Competitors · 3
by search overlap
Companies competing with Cialfo for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 8
launches, deals, and filingsTiger Global led a US$20 million Series B extension, taking the Series B to US$60 million and total funding raised to US$77 million.
$20M source ↗
Cialfo announced a US$40 million Series B led by Square Peg and SEEK Investments, with participation from existing investors SIG Global, Vulcan Capital, DLF Venture, January Capital and Lim Teck Lee, bringing total funding to US$57 million.
$40M source ↗
Cialfo said Direct Apply, a tool letting students and counselors apply, track and send documents to programs globally using a single application form, was among enhancements planned for 2022.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Cialfocialfo.co · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Cialfo do?
- Singapore-based edtech running an AI-assisted college counseling and application platform for high schools, students and universities.
- Who founded Cialfo?
- Cialfo was founded by Rohan Pasari, Stanley Chia, William Hund, William James Hund.
- Who are Cialfo's investors?
- Cialfo's investors include DLF Venture, Alto Partners, January Capital, SEEDS Capital, SEEK Investments, Tiger Global Management, Bisk Ventures.
- Where is Cialfo headquartered?
- Cialfo is headquartered in Singapore, SG.