IDP Education today announced that it has acquired 100% of The Ambassador Platform. The Ambassador Platform is a UK-based technology company that provides a SaaS platform for higher education institutions to connect their existing students to prospective students.   

The platform facilitates one-to-one and group chats, live streams, the collection and promotion of user generated content and provides detailed reporting and insights for institutions. 

Tennealle O’Shannessy, Chief Executive Officer, IDP, said that in addition to IDP’s counsellors, we know that students trust their peers for advice when making decisions as life-changing as studying overseas.  

“By acquiring The Ambassador Platform, IDP will be able to accelerate its plans to incorporate peer-to-peer engagement as part of its student placement business which we believe will further differentiate our offering to students and universities,” Ms O’Shannessy said. 

George Olesen, CEO and Co-founder of The Ambassador Platform, said that the transaction represented a unique opportunity to combine with a market leader in international education to accelerate the growth of The Ambassador Platform and to co-design with IDP new products and features for our clients.  

“We started The Ambassador Platform to help higher education providers unlock the power of their students’ voices in their marketing and recruitment campaigns.  This transaction will accelerate our efforts in this area and is an exciting milestone for the company,” Mr Olesen said. 

The total consideration for the acquisition will be up to £9m which IDP will fund through its existing cash balance. The acquisition is not expected to have a material financial impact on IDP. 

This announcement was authorised by a sub-committee of the IDP Board of Directors. 

About IDP 

IDP is a leader in global education services. As an Australian listed company, IDP operates in more than 50 countries and its websites attract 100 million visits a year. 

IDP specialises in combining human expertise with a leading digital platform to help people get accepted into their ideal course, take an English language test or learn English in their schools.  

IDP’s teams work side by side with their customers every day, at every step - from course search through to starting their dream course or career. 

IDP’s data insights are relied upon by organisations around the world to help ensure policies are informed by the diverse needs, challenges and motivations of students. 

Most of all, IDP is proud of its people. It is their trusted people and processes that help their customers turn their study or English goals into a launchpad for their career. 

About The Ambassador Platform 

The Ambassador Platform is a UK-headquartered peer-to-peer marketing and student recruitment platform for higher education providers.  

It was co-founded in 2016 by business partners, George Olesen and Nik Higgins.  

The platform’s proprietary technology is now used by more than 150 educational institutions across five continents.