Cialfo

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.

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

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 industry

PRIMARYEDAFAMAC

Application Planning, Document Management & Submission Tools

Education/Education Technology (EdTech) & Digital Learning/Career Guidance, College Admissions & Student Success Platforms

SECONDARYEDAJALAA

Academic Tutoring Services (Subject-Specific & General)

Education/K–12 / Primary & Secondary Education/K–12 Educational Support Services (Tutoring & Counseling)

Keywords

• College counseling software
• K12 education platform
• AI career guidance
• University application platform
• Edtech SaaS

Headquarters

HQ city

Singapore

HQ country

Singapore

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. 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.
2. TOEFL Discount and Partnership: Official ETS partner offering discount codes to students, generating revenue through partnership commissions and lead generation for university placements.
3. 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

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core 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

Named customers16 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and supporting.

• MindlercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 October 2025Strategic 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 GlobalflagshipOthers · 20 January 2025Manifest 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 BeatsupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 26 August 2024Social 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)coreTechnology or IntegrationOfficial 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'.
• BridgeUcoreTechnology or IntegrationBridgeU 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 PartnershipsupportingTechnology or IntegrationComet Partnership via First Counselor AI Global Partner Network, integrating Cialfo into counselor workflow ecosystem.
• UCAScoreTechnology or IntegrationWorld-class integration with UCAS for UK university applications, enabling seamless data flow and application submission for students applying to UK institutions.
• Common AppcoreTechnology or IntegrationWorld-class integration with Common Application system, enabling students to manage and submit US college applications through Cialfo platform.
• ParchmentcoreTechnology or IntegrationWorld-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

Direct 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

• Xx.com/cialfoplatform
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@CialfoHQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/cialfo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cialfo-pte-ltd
• Instagraminstagram.com/cialfohq

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors14 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cialfo