Student Beans
Student Beans operates a verification-based student discount marketplace serving 165M+ verified students across 52+ countries, offering exclusive offers from 10,000+ brand partners in fashion, tech, food, and travel. Revenue derives from affiliate commissions and brand promotional fees paid by partners.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2005
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Student Beans does
Student Beans operates a verification-based student discount marketplace connecting verified students with exclusive discounts from brand partners. Founded in 2005 in Birmingham, UK, by brothers James and Michael Eder, the company is now operated by The Beans Group and is the student discount marketplace within Pion's broader student marketing technology portfolio. The platform serves verified students aged 16 and above through a free membership model, aggregating discounts across 10,000+ brand partners in fashion, technology, food, travel, entertainment, and beauty. Operating entities are registered in the UK, US, and Australia with localized country websites serving 27+ markets across EMEA, North America, Asia-Pacific, LATAM, and Africa.
Student Beans firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Student Beans
- Legal name
- The Beans Group Limited
- Website
- https://studentbeans.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2005
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- Student Beans operates a verification-based student discount marketplace serving 165M+ verified students across 52+ countries, offering exclusive offers from 10,000+ brand partners in fashion, tech, food, and travel. Revenue derives from affiliate commissions and brand promotional fees paid by partners.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Student Beans industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Student Discount Marketplace
- NAICS
- Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Services (611)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Student Travel Passes, ID Cards & Local Discount Programs (EDAIANAI)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Campus / Student ID & Closed-Loop Stored Value (FSAMANAH)
Keywords
Where Student Beans is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Student Beans business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Affiliate Commission: Company receives commission from partners when users access or redeem offers via the Platforms. Uses affiliate tracking to confirm redemptions and receive commission payments.
- Brand Promotional Fees: Brands pay Student Beans to promote their content on the Platforms, creating a secondary revenue stream alongside commission-based earnings.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free Student Membership |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels7 records
Student Beans product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Student Beans operates a verified student discount marketplace that connects over 165 million students across 52 countries with exclusive discounts and offers from more than 10,000 brand partners across fashion, technology, food, travel, entertainment, and beauty. The platform uses proprietary AI-powered verification technology to confirm student eligibility and prevent fraud, while monetizing primarily through affiliate commissions on redemptions and brand promotional fees paid by partner brands.
Product overview
Student Beans is a verification-based student discount marketplace operated by The Beans Group (trading as Pion), founded in 2005 in Birmingham, UK. The core offering is the Student Beans Marketplace — a platform providing verified students aged 16+ in full-time education with exclusive discount codes and offers from brand partners across fashion, food, technology, entertainment, travel, health & beauty, and other categories. The product portfolio consists of: the main Student Beans Marketplace (website), a mobile app (iOS/Android) with 4.8-star rating for on-the-go access and app-exclusive discounts, a Chrome browser extension for in-browser discount discovery, the Student Beans iD digital verification identity system enabling in-store and online redemption, the GradBeans graduate extension program (up to 5 years post-graduation), and the Student Beans Blog covering student life content. The platform partners with over 10,000 brands including adidas, ASOS, Gymshark, Samsung, Amazon Prime, McDonald's, and Qatar Airways, serving over 163 million students across 50+ countries.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Student Beans Marketplace The primary student discount marketplace platform operated by The Beans Group (Pion). Provides verified students aged 16+ with exclusive discount codes and offers from brand partners across fashion, food, technology, entertainment, travel, health and beauty, accessible via website, mobile app, and in-store redemption.
- Student Beans Mobile App iOS and Android mobile application enabling verified students to access discounts on-the-go, follow favorite brands, unlock app-exclusive discounts, receive daily deal alerts, and use the in-app Student Beans iD for in-store redemption.
- Student Beans Chrome Extension Chrome browser extension that allows verified students to discover and apply student discounts directly while browsing partner retailer websites, surfacing applicable offers in-session.
- Student Beans iD Digital student identity card and verification system that unlocks student discounts at thousands of stores online and in-store. Enables instant in-store redemption via the mobile app and supports verification via institutional email or student ID document upload.
- GradBeans Graduate discount extension program allowing former verified students to continue accessing exclusive discounts for up to 5 years after graduation, operated as a sister marketplace to Student Beans under The Beans Group trading names.
- Brand Partner Solutions B2B partner portal providing brand partners with student verification, promotional placement, affiliate tracking, and research solutions to reach and convert verified student audiences across 52 countries.
Quantifiable outcome
- Access to discounts at over 10,000 stores online and on the high street
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Student Beans
Customer profileNamed customers16 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Student Beans technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability1 record
Feature2 records
Student Beans partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- GymsharkcoreGymshark offers student-exclusive discounts through Student Beans, allowing verified students to access savings on fitness apparel and accessories.
- McDonald'scoreMcDonald's provides food discounts for students through the Student Beans platform, offering value for budget-conscious students.
- Amazon PrimecoreAmazon offers Prime membership discounts for students, with 6-month trial available through Student Beans verified accounts.
- adidascoreadidas provides student discounts up to 30% off plus extra student-specific savings through Student Beans partnerships.
- Princess PollycoreFashion retailer Princess Polly offers exclusive student discounts, with testimonial from Princess Polly's Head of Product Marketing praising the partnership.
- 10,000+ Partner BrandscoreStudent Beans partners with over 10,000 online and high street stores across fashion, technology, food, entertainment, and other categories to offer verified student discounts.
- PioncoreStudent Beans is Pion's student discount marketplace. Pion operates Student Beans as part of The Beans Group network.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Student Beans competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- UNiDAYS: UNiDAYS is the closest direct competitor to Student Beans, operating a global verified-student discount platform with similar brand-partner economics and student-ID verification. Both serve the same verified-student marketplace niche with overlapping brand rosters and comparable affiliate/commission revenue models.
- SheerID: SheerID provides identity verification for exclusive offers (student, military, teacher, first responders), directly mirroring Student Beans' core verification technology. Both monetize by enabling brands to gate offers to verified closed consumer groups, and they increasingly compete for the same brand verification budget.
Broad incumbents
- ID.me: ID.me is a larger identity-verification platform offering student verification alongside military, government, and healthcare employee groups. It competes with Student Beans' verification layer for brand-gated offers and represents a scaled incumbent in identity attestation.
- RetailMeNot: RetailMeNot is a broad coupon and cash-back marketplace that competes for brand promotional spend, but is not student-specific. It overlaps with Student Beans on the brand-side value proposition of distributing discount codes and driving conversion.
- Groupon: Groupon operates a deals and discount marketplace with a comparable affiliate/commission revenue model. While it does not focus on student verification, it competes for the same brand-promotion wallet and consumer deal-discovery mindshare as Student Beans.
- Rakuten: Rakuten (formerly Ebates) operates a global cash-back and affiliate platform that uses similar commission-tracking mechanics as Student Beans. It competes for the same affiliate-driven brand-promotion budget though without the closed-loop student verification.
- Blackhawk Network: Blackhawk Network is a large gift card, stored value, and closed-loop incentives provider with comparable tech-driven distribution of offers. Its corporate-incentive and closed-loop stored value capabilities overlap with the digital-student-ID and verification mechanism that powers Student Beans iD.
Emerging players
- StudentRate: StudentRate is a smaller student discount platform covering fashion, tech, and lifestyle brands. It serves the same student persona and offers a similar discount aggregator experience, but with significantly smaller scale and brand-partner breadth than Student Beans' 10,000+ network.
- GradTouch: GradTouch is a graduate-marketing platform connecting brands with university students and recent graduates. It overlaps with Student Beans' post-graduation GradBeans offering and competes for the same brand-side budget targeting Gen Z entry-level professionals.
Others
- Pion: Pion is the strategic parent operating company under which Student Beans sits, alongside The Beans Group's other properties. It is comparable because its marketing-technology stack and Gen Z-first-party data assets are increasingly being combined with Student Beans' marketplace and verification capabilities.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Student Beans social profiles
Digital presenceStudent Beans financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Student Beans leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Student Beans funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Student Beans 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 Student Beans
What does Student Beans do?
Student Beans operates a verified student discount marketplace that connects over 165 million students across 52 countries with exclusive discounts and offers from more than 10,000 brand partners across fashion, technology, food, travel, entertainment, and beauty. The platform uses proprietary AI-powered verification technology to confirm student eligibility and prevent fraud, while monetizing primarily through affiliate commissions on redemptions and brand promotional fees paid by partner brands.
Is Student Beans a public or private company?
Student Beans is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Student Beans founded?
Student Beans was founded in 2005. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Student Beans based?
Student Beans is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Student Beans make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Affiliate Commission is the primary driver. The others are brand Promotional Fees.
Who are Student Beans's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are UNiDAYS and SheerID. Broad incumbents are ID.me, RetailMeNot, Groupon, Rakuten and Blackhawk Network. Emerging players are StudentRate and GradTouch. Pion is listed as an others.
Does Student Beans have an API?
No public API is recorded for Student Beans.
What industry is Student Beans in?
Student Beans's product category is Student Discount Marketplace. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAIANAI, Student Travel Passes, ID Cards & Local Discount Programs, with a secondary code of FSAMANAH, Campus / Student ID & Closed-Loop Stored Value. Its NAICS code is 611710 and its SIC code is 8200.