Cialfo
Cialfo is a Singapore-based AI-powered college counseling platform serving K12 and international schools globally with workflow software, Direct Apply technology covering 75,000+ programs across 1,000+ universities, and International High School Tours connecting schools with university partners. Founded in 2017 and now operating under parent company Manifest Global.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2017
- HeadquartersSingapore, Singapore
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Cialfo does
Cialfo is a Singapore-headquartered edtech company that provides an AI-powered college counseling platform for K12 and international schools globally. Founded in 2017, the company consolidates fragmented college admissions workflows into a single SaaS platform serving school counselors, students, parents, and university partners. The core K12 Platform offers Profile Builder, University Exploration, Dynamic Reporting, and a Student Dashboard, complemented by native integrations with UCAS (UK), Common App (US), and Parchment for credential management. The proprietary Direct Apply technology enables students to submit a single application to 75,000+ programs across 1,000+ universities globally, with integrated scholarship access. Saige, Cialfo's in-house AI assistant, powers university discovery and personalized recommendations through text-based interactions.
Cialfo operates a multi-revenue-stream business model. The primary engine is B2B SaaS subscription revenue from schools under multi-year contracts (averaging seven years, with 96% counselor satisfaction). The Direct Apply and Saige Rewards layer generates affiliate and partnership revenue through ETS TOEFL discount codes (up to 15% off). International High School Tours across China, India, and Southeast Asia produce transaction-based revenue from 60+ university partners while serving as a distribution channel for school acquisition. The company reports 365,000+ community members, 99.99% platform uptime on AWS infrastructure, and 7-second average chat response time.
Cialfo raised approximately $82.6M across five funding rounds between 2018 and March 2022, with the Series B and Series B extension rounds co-led or led by Seek Investments, Square Peg Capital, and Tiger Global. In January 2025, the company consolidated under Manifest Global, a Singapore-based education investment firm that also owns Explore (university discovery/tours) and Kaaiser (international student placement, Australia). The founding leadership team remains in place with Rohan Pasari as CEO and co-founder, Stanley DingLi as COO and co-founder, and William Hund as co-founder and Chief Product Officer. The company is GDPR-compliant and serves schools across Southeast Asia, South Asia, East Asia, and increasingly Latin America.
Cialfo firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cialfo
- Legal name
- Cialfo Pte Ltd
- Website
- https://cialfo.co
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2017
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Cialfo is a Singapore-based AI-powered college counseling platform serving K12 and international schools globally with workflow software, Direct Apply technology covering 75,000+ programs across 1,000+ universities, and International High School Tours connecting schools with university partners. Founded in 2017 and now operating under parent company Manifest Global.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cialfo industry classification
Industry- Product category
- K-12 College Counseling Platform
- NAICS
- Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (61171), Educational Support Services (6117)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Application Planning, Document Management & Submission Tools (EDAFAMAC)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Academic Tutoring Services (Subject-Specific & General) (EDAJALAA)
Keywords
Where Cialfo is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Singapore
- HQ country
- Singapore
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices1 record
Markets served
Cialfo business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- School/Institution Platform Subscription: B2B SaaS model where Cialfo charges schools for access to its K12 counseling platform. Schools enter multi-year contracts with the platform serving as the primary workflow tool for college counselors.
- TOEFL Discount and Partnership: Official ETS partner offering discount codes to students, generating revenue through partnership commissions and lead generation for university placements.
- International High School Tours: Event-based service connecting universities with high schools, generating revenue from university participation fees for tour access and recruitment opportunities.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | K12 Platform - School Subscription |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | TOEFL Discount Program |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels11 records
Cialfo product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cialfo is an AI-driven college counseling platform that brings together people, software, and data to streamline college and career counseling workflows for K-12 schools. Schools subscribe to the platform to manage student profiles, university discovery, application submission, and reporting, while students access Direct Apply to submit single-form applications to thousands of programs globally. Additional services include International High School Tours, Counseling Excellence Lab, and Cialfo Guides.
Product overview
Cialfo is an AI-powered college counseling platform offering a unified ecosystem of products and services. The core K12 Platform works alongside the proprietary Direct Apply technology and Saige AI assistant to provide intelligent counseling workflows for schools. Supporting services include Counseling Excellence Lab, Cialfo Guides, Best Practice Workshops, and International High School Tours. Resources include Video Vault, The Thought Exchange blog, and Explore by Cialfo student platform. The ecosystem integrates natively with UCAS, Common App, and Parchment for streamlined applications. Saige Rewards and Comet Partnership extend the platform's value. Under parent company Manifest Global (as of January 2025), Cialfo continues operating as its primary K12 brand alongside Explore and Kaaiser.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Explore: Explore by Cialfo - A platform for university discovery, student recruitment tours, and higher education marketing serving K12 networks and universities globally.
- Saige
- Direct Apply
Products and services
- Cialfo K12 Platform AI-powered counselor workflow platform for K-12 schools that streamlines career exploration, college search, and application submission. Includes student dashboard, Profile Builder, University Exploration, dynamic reporting, and integrations with UCAS, Common App, and Parchment. Sold via annual or multi-year subscription to schools.
- Direct Apply Proprietary technology enabling students to apply to 75,000 programs across 1,000 universities globally through a single application form, with integrated scholarship access. Available to students and parents via self-serve access.
- International High School Tours Event-based service program connecting universities with K-12 students and counselors across China, India, and Southeast Asia. Features school visits, Counselor Connect networking events, and QR code lead collection. Universities pay participation fees while schools receive free participation.
- Counseling Excellence Lab Professional development service for school counselors focused on enhancing counseling practices and student guidance outcomes.
- Cialfo Guides In-house destination and university admissions experts providing guidance to students for college life decisions and application support.
- Best Practice Workshops Training events and workshops for counselors to share best practices in college admissions and student guidance.
Quantifiable outcome
- 96% counselor satisfaction rate with contracts running over seven years
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Cialfo
Customer profileNamed customers16 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Cialfo technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
AI capability4 records
Feature6 records
Cialfo partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and supporting.
- MindlercoreStrategic partnership announced October 2025 combining Cialfo's global platform with Mindler's career discovery tools. Creates a unified ecosystem supporting students from self-discovery to college admissions, empowering schools with holistic student guidance solutions.
- Manifest GlobalflagshipManifest Global, a Singapore-based education investment firm, established as parent company of Cialfo, Explore, and Kaaiser brands in January 2025. Kaaiser specializes in international student placement, primarily in Australia.
- Social BeatsupportingSocial Beat awarded digital marketing mandate for Cialfo in August 2024. Responsible for lead generation and brand awareness through LinkedIn, Meta, and Google platforms.
- ETS (Educational Testing Service)coreOfficial ETS partner providing TOEFL discount codes (CIALFOTOEFL10 offering up to 15% off) and score integration. Students can access, track, and share TOEFL scores directly on Cialfo profiles with 'Verified by TOEFL ETS' badge. Cialfo is marketed as the '#1 Trusted TOEFL Partner'.
- BridgeUcoreBridgeU co-powers Cialfo's International High School Tours network, expanding platform reach to additional international K12 schools. Both companies contribute to counselor networks and university recruitment events.
- Comet PartnershipsupportingComet Partnership via First Counselor AI Global Partner Network, integrating Cialfo into counselor workflow ecosystem.
- UCAScoreWorld-class integration with UCAS for UK university applications, enabling seamless data flow and application submission for students applying to UK institutions.
- Common AppcoreWorld-class integration with Common Application system, enabling students to manage and submit US college applications through Cialfo platform.
- ParchmentcoreWorld-class integration with Parchment for transcript and document management, streamlining credential transfer in the application process.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Cialfo competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- MaiaLearning: College and career readiness platform for high schools offering student portfolios, college application tools, and counselor dashboards. Comparable feature set targeting the same K-12 counselor and student buyer.
- BridgeU: Direct competitor in college and career readiness platforms for international schools. Notably, BridgeU is also a Cialfo partner co-powering International High School Tours, reflecting how closely the two compete on product while cooperating on events.
- Xello: K-12 college, career, and future-readiness platform with similar counselor-facing dashboards and student profile tools. Directly comparable on product scope, though Xello skews more toward career exploration and US/Canada school districts.
- Scoir: College counseling platform serving high schools with similar workflow features including application management, profile building, and university connections. Closely comparable in serving K-12 counselors and students through the application process.
Emerging players
- Unibuddy: Peer-to-peer platform connecting prospective students with current university students and ambassadors. Overlaps with Cialfo's Explore sub-brand in the university discovery and recruitment space, particularly for international students.
- Mindler: Career discovery and guidance platform that recently partnered with Cialfo. Adjacent in the student guidance funnel, focused upstream on career exploration rather than college application workflows.
- CollegeVine: Admissions guidance platform combining AI-driven college recommendations with admissions consulting. Comparable to Cialfo's Saige AI recommendation engine, but serves students and parents directly rather than through school subscriptions.
Broad incumbents
- College Board: Operator of major US standardized testing and college planning tools (BigFuture). Adjacent incumbent that shares the college planning buyer with Cialfo and has the scale and data to expand into AI-driven counseling workflows.
- Naviance (PowerSchool): Largest incumbent in K-12 college and career readiness, owned by PowerSchool with deep SIS integration. Overlaps with Cialfo on counselor workflows and college application tools, but targets a much broader (predominantly US public school) market.
- Common App: Dominant US college application platform that Cialfo integrates with. While not a direct competitor in counseling workflows, Common App's potential expansion into counselor-facing features represents both an integration partner and a strategic threat to Cialfo's value proposition.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Cialfo social profiles
Digital presenceCialfo compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Cialfo financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cialfo leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Cialfo subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Cialfo funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds5 records
Investors14 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cialfo M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cialfo
What does Cialfo do?
Cialfo is an AI-driven college counseling platform that brings together people, software, and data to streamline college and career counseling workflows for K-12 schools. Schools subscribe to the platform to manage student profiles, university discovery, application submission, and reporting, while students access Direct Apply to submit single-form applications to thousands of programs globally. Additional services include International High School Tours, Counseling Excellence Lab, and Cialfo Guides.
Is Cialfo a public or private company?
Cialfo is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Cialfo founded?
Cialfo was founded in 2017. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Cialfo based?
Cialfo is headquartered in Singapore, Singapore, in the Asia region.
How does Cialfo make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. School/Institution Platform Subscription is the primary driver. The others are TOEFL Discount and Partnership and international High School Tours.
Who are Cialfo's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are MaiaLearning, BridgeU, Xello and Scoir. Emerging players are Unibuddy, Mindler and CollegeVine. Broad incumbents are College Board, Naviance (PowerSchool) and Common App.
Does Cialfo have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cialfo.
What industry is Cialfo in?
Cialfo's product category is K-12 College Counseling Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAFAMAC, Application Planning, Document Management & Submission Tools, with a secondary code of EDAJALAA, Academic Tutoring Services (Subject-Specific & General). Its NAICS code is 611710 and its SIC code is 7372.