Student Beans

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.

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

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

• Student discount marketplace
• Student verification platform
• Affiliate marketing network
• Youth loyalty programs
• Gen Z marketing solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

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

1. 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.
2. 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

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core 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

Named customers16 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• GymsharkcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerGymshark offers student-exclusive discounts through Student Beans, allowing verified students to access savings on fitness apparel and accessories.
• McDonald'scoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMcDonald's provides food discounts for students through the Student Beans platform, offering value for budget-conscious students.
• Amazon PrimecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerAmazon offers Prime membership discounts for students, with 6-month trial available through Student Beans verified accounts.
• adidascoreGTM or Marketing Partneradidas provides student discounts up to 30% off plus extra student-specific savings through Student Beans partnerships.
• Princess PollycoreGTM or Marketing PartnerFashion retailer Princess Polly offers exclusive student discounts, with testimonial from Princess Polly's Head of Product Marketing praising the partnership.
• 10,000+ Partner BrandscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerStudent Beans partners with over 10,000 online and high street stores across fashion, technology, food, entertainment, and other categories to offer verified student discounts.
• PioncoreOthersStudent 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

Direct 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

• Instagraminstagram.com/studentbeans/reels
• Xx.com/studentbeans

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Student Beans