April 26, 2022

Ellis Raises $5.6m to ‘Ease’ International Student Experience in the USA

I In a bid to better international student experience in the USA, Edtech company Ellis has raised a $5.6 million seed round. Led by Kindred Venturers, some other backers of the company are immigrant founders. The idea behind the move is to have people on board that understand Ellis’ vision and mission.

The inspiration for the start-up stemmed from its founder, Sampei Omichi’s own experience as an immigrant student in the USA.

…the long-term goal is to expand Ellis to other popular study abroad locations such as Australia, Canada and the UK…

Ellis is an all-in-one platform that allows international students to access services such as setting up bank accounts, phone plans, and tax assistance, before arriving in the US. They are also working on a product that enables them to co-sign a lease for international students, becoming their guarantor before entry into America.

Speaking to the media Sampei Omichi said, “I was an international student myself five years ago and dealt with the sleuth of issues first-hand. I quickly realised that my problems were not unique – all of my friends were dealing with the same issues: getting financial services, immigration bureaucracy, rent guarantors, etc,” he explained.

“My brother is a senior in high school and is about to move to the US to start college, inevitably facing the problems international students have been facing for decades. I built Ellis to solve problems for students like him.”

According to Omichi, the long-term goal is to expand Ellis to other popular study abroad locations such as Australia, Canada and the UK.

Posted in News and tagged News, EdTech, Ellis, Education Technology, Higher Education
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