Determining the right college or university and navigating the road to actually arriving on campus for your first class is a challenging process for anyone. Imagine all the added complexities for foreign students dreaming of studying abroad - distance, language, bureaucratic red tape, masses of regulations, and slow admission processes. Also, consider the pressures of carrying their family’s hopes for the future and having one shot to make a decision that will affect the rest of their life.
No wonder families pay considerable sums of money to agents or brokers who are not always trustworthy or even effective at getting the desired result.
Matt McLellan, HBA ’14 not only knew about the problems facing overseas students who wished to study abroad. He cared.
His family lived near Western University and often hosted foreign students who became his friends. He saw through their eyes how horrendous and exploitative some of their experiences were. It was a lingering concern in the back of his mind as he completed his own educational journey.
After graduating from Ivey, McLellan, and his Halp co-founder, Marc Fielding, HBA’ 13, worked in management consulting for several years. They both learned valuable on-the-ground lessons on self-confidence, research skills, how to take a hypothesis-driven approach to markets, and build a thesis around a problem. The barriers to entry faced by international students were still something they would talk about in their spare time and ponder possible solutions.
McLellan and Fielding realized that no one had really focused on a purely tech-driven solution. They both reached the conviction that a scalable, digital coaching platform, might be the answer. They could reach enough people to make it viable and make a large-scale difference.
Still wearing their consulting hats, they began analyzing the situation. They worked evenings, weekends, and every spare moment researching, talking to parents, schools, and agents, getting a grip on the entire scope of the issue.
They knew they needed to understand the landscape and come up with a scalable business model with a margin profile and unit economics that made sense. The more they dug into the research, the deeper their conviction grew – this platform could work!
After doing all the interviews, we got really excited…as people were telling us “please make this.” We felt like we were pulled into entrepreneurship and had no choice but to do it!
McLellan adds, “quitting our jobs didn’t feel all that scary as we had the data.”
Still, McLellan wasn’t naïve enough to think having people wanting to experience your product was an instant ticket to success - but having confidence in the idea and the backing of supportive research felt like a pretty good hedge to both McLellan and Fielding.
In 2020, Halp was born. McLellan describes Halp as a consumer-facing coaching platform; it is essentially a consumer product. Revenue is generated by the various schools paying a percentage of tuition for bringing a qualified prospect in-house. Their admission departments only have to review the application and make decisions based on the information provided. A great deal of the acquisition cost per student has been avoided for the institution.
Student volume for Halp is assured by the no-cost up-front service for the applicant. Their institution partners are constantly growing, so they are free to work solely on behalf of the student without any conflict of interest. It is a win-win for all parties.
Halp’s online platform assigns each applicant a dedicated coach. The coach guides the applicant through the entire process - beginning with deciding where to apply, completing the application process, getting a visa, housing, scholarships, and loans, to finally getting a phone and bank account. All for free – which is music to any student’s ears.
McClelland says right from the start the reaction was overwhelming. He freely admits it wasn’t necessarily because their product was perfect – more that their read of the market was spot on. People were tired of handing over money only to be exploited by agents and asked for more money. They were ready for a better option. The business took off from word-of-mouth support.
From there, it was a question of refining the experience.
McLellan stresses the importance of talking to users on a daily and weekly basis – and improving the service based on what they were hearing. He adds that user feedback is the critical thing that leads you towards product market fit and being able to scale and have a larger impact quickly.
And I think the quicker that feedback and iteration loop is, the faster you'll get to where you can scale, and I don't think we understood that as well as we should have early on.
The early success allowed them to raise more financing and hire a team. They currently have fifteen employees. Coaches are full-time employees and not contract hires. They go through an intense onboarding process as they are key to creating trust between the prospective student and the service. Unlike agents whose involvement often ends abruptly - Halp coaches are available by email or WhatsApp to chat and advise at every step.
Right now, Halp is dealing with 20,000 students who are applying to colleges and universities in Canada, the US, UK and Australia. Their largest student market is in India, although they draw from Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, and 80 more.
Currently, about two million students study internationally every year with the market predicted to grow to approximately eight million in the next five years. McLellan notes that 600,000 students come to Canada every year to study – so the growth potential is significant. McLellan sees potential for Halp to offer ancillary services in the future to bridge some of the gaps in the system but the immediate strategy is to focus on growing the core business and provide users with what they want.
Investors agree. In October 2022, Halp received $5.5 million in seed funding with Lerer Hippeau and Serena Ventures leading the funding.
McLellan credits his experience with Western and the consulting world with his ability to - as he puts it – “being comfortable with being a little uncomfortable.” He adds it is important to have great mentors, to trust your own instincts, and enjoy the journey along the way.
One of the best pieces of advice to deal with the emotional roller coaster of entrepreneurship McLellan received was to “treat the highs and lows the same way,” He admits it’s something he is working on as it’s difficult for someone passionate about their venture. Still, it is a good reminder to try and keep things on an even keel.
McLellan also believes in the power of putting yourself out there and seeking advice if you need it.
Pick up the phone or go and see someone if you need some specific advice. The worst that can happen is someone says no and you move on to your next person. Most people are happy to give advice if you are respectful of their time and clear about what you are asking.
Access to studying abroad allows students to level the global economic playing field and adds to diversity both in the classroom and in the workforce, which ultimately benefits us all.
Halp’s vision is to help every student unlock their future and realize their potential.