Free University of Tbilisi

What Free University of Tbilisi does

Free University of Tbilisi is a private higher education institution founded in 2006 in Tbilisi, Georgia, by businessman and philanthropist Kakha Bendukidze. It operates a single campus — the Kakha Bendukidze Campus at 240 David Aghmashenebeli Alley — and is organized into multiple specialized schools: the Business School (ESM), School of International Relations, School of Physics, School of Law, and School of Governance and Public Affairs (MACS). The university offers bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and certificate programs across these disciplines, with the School of International Relations providing language training in nine languages including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, French, Spanish, and German. Research activity is anchored in dedicated institutes and laboratories including the Institute of Asia and Africa, Confucius Institute, Memory and Anxiety Research Laboratory (FUMA Lab), Scientific Research Institute of Cognitive Neurosciences, and a Center for the Study of Arab Countries and the Islamic World. The university places notable emphasis on international mobility, operating student-exchange partnerships with Toyo, Waseda, Seoul National, ESCP Business School, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, University of Texas at Austin, the Erasmus Mundus Astrophysics consortium, and numerous Chinese, Korean, and Middle Eastern universities, alongside official HSK/HSKK, JLPT, and TOPIK language testing centers.

The university's revenue model is not publicly disclosed; it appears to rely primarily on tuition income from students admitted through Georgia's National Unified Examination and through scholarship/competition channels such as the Knowledge Foundation grants, the Free Thinking contest, and the Thurgood Marshall law competition. There is no identified external institutional investor, PE/VC ownership, or disclosed parent-subsidiary structure — the institution operates as an independent private university. Geographic reach is technically multi-country through exchange partnerships, but the operational footprint is single-country (Georgia, Caucasus). The institution employs 101-250 staff and is currently operating with active admissions, events, and research output, including recent student publications in journals such as Physics of Plasmas.

Name

Free University of Tbilisi

Legal name

Free University of Tbilisi

Website

https://freeuni.edu.ge

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Free University of Tbilisi is a private multi-school university in Georgia offering bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and certificate programs across physics, international relations, business, law, and governance, with a dense international exchange and research network anchored at the Kakha Bendukidze Campus in Tbilisi.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (61131)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

International & Global Research Universities (Multi-Campus/International Footprint) (EDAHABAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Short-Term Exchange & Visiting Student Programs (EDAIABAG), Dual/Joint Degree Programs (International) (EDAIABAD)

Keywords

• Higher education services
• Undergraduate degree programs
• Graduate degree programs
• International student exchange
• University research programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Tbilisi

HQ country

Georgia

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Free University of Tbilisi offers higher education degree programs across Bachelor's, Master's, Doctoral, and Certificate levels in disciplines including Physics, International Relations, Business Administration, Law, Governance, and Social Sciences. The university operates multiple specialized schools and supports research through dedicated institutes and laboratories on its Tbilisi campus. Students gain access to international exchange programs with partner universities in Japan, China, Korea, Germany, France, and the United States.

Product overview

Free University of Tbilisi is a higher education institution offering a comprehensive portfolio of academic programs across undergraduate (bachelor's), graduate (master's), doctoral, and certificate levels. The university comprises multiple specialized schools including the School of Physics, School of International Relations, Business School (ESM), School of Law, and School of Governance and Public Affairs (MACS). Research activities are supported by dedicated institutes and laboratories such as the Memory and Anxiety Research Laboratory, Institute of Asia and Africa, Confucius Institute, and the Scientific Research Institute of Cognitive Neurosciences. The university operates from its Kakha Bendukidze Campus in Tbilisi, which includes modern facilities such as laboratories, a library, sports facilities, and a culinary academy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• School of International Relations: School offering bachelor's programs in international relations with concentrations in Near East, Far East, and Euro-Atlantic studies.
• School of Physics
• Business School (ESM)
• Law School
• School of Management and Public Affairs (MACS)
• School of Governance and Society

Products and services

• Bachelor's Programs

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

27 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Toyo UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerExchange program agreement between Free University of Tbilisi and Toyo University in Japan. Students from the School of International Relations can study one semester at Toyo University on business or global innovation programs, with Japanese language instruction included.
• Toyo UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMemorandum of understanding for student exchange programs between the two universities.
• Confucius Institute (at FreeUni)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConfucius Institute operating at Free University of Tbilisi, providing Chinese language and cultural education programs. Also serves as a testing center for HSK (Chinese proficiency tests).
• Zhejiang University (Hangzhou City University)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic exchange and collaboration with various Chinese universities for the School of International Relations program.
• Seoul National UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for exchange programs and academic collaboration.
• Waseda University (Japan)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternship and exchange program partnerships for International Relations students.
• Ritsumeikan UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAsia-Pacific focused exchange and internship program partnerships.
• Kagoshima UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStudent exchange program partnerships for Japanese language and cultural studies.
• Tianjin UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic exchange programs through various Chinese universities.
• Zhengzhou UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic exchange programs through various Chinese universities.
• Xiamen UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic exchange programs through various Chinese universities.
• Nanjing Normal UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic exchange programs through various Chinese universities.
• Free University of BerlinminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean exchange partnerships for International Relations students.
• Heinrich Heine University DusseldorfminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGerman university partnerships for exchange programs.
• International University ofLanguages (Fondation)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench language institute partnerships.
• Doha Institute (Qatar)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArabic language and Middle Eastern studies exchange programs.
• Cairo University (Egypt)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArabic language studies partnerships through the Arabic Language Center.
• Kuwait UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArabic language studies partnerships.
• Chonbuk National UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKorean language and studies exchange programs.
• Chungbuk National UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKorean studies exchange partnerships.
• Seoul National University (Korea)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKorean language and cultural exchange programs.
• ESCP Business SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership allowing graduates of International Relations to pursue management master's programs at ESCP's multi-campus European locations including Berlin, Paris, and other campuses.
• Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerExchange program partner for Physics School students at one of Germany's leading universities.
• University of Texas at AustinminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerExchange and research collaboration with top US universities for Physics students.
• University of Zielona GoraminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean exchange program partnerships for physics students.
• Erasmus Mundus ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFree University participates in Erasmus Mundus joint master's program in Astrophysics and Space Science with partner universities including University of Rome Tor Vergata, University of Bremen, Universite Cote d'Azur, and University of Belgrade, providing full scholarships for students.
• Space Science and Technology Education (COBE)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational collaboration in space science and technology education.

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Central European University: International private research university with strong emphasis on social sciences and graduate programs, operating across Vienna and Budapest. Comparable as an internationally-networked private research university, though at substantially larger scale and reputation.
• Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University: Georgia's flagship public research university and the dominant higher-education incumbent in the same Tbilisi market. Competes directly with FreeUni for the same domestic student pool on price (publicly subsidized/free tuition) and brand prestige, though TSU is much larger and broader in scope.

Regional players

• European University at St. Petersburg: Private liberal-arts and social-sciences university in St. Petersburg, Russia with international faculty and partnerships. Comparable as a post-Soviet private research/teaching institution oriented toward international exchange.
• ADA University: Private, internationally-oriented university in Baku, Azerbaijan with strong government and corporate backing, offering multi-disciplinary programs and international partnerships. Comparable as a regional peer for internationalized private higher-education positioning in the Caucasus.
• American University of Central Asia: Private liberal-arts university in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan with U.S.-style curriculum and extensive international donor/partnership support. Comparable as a post-Soviet private university with international-exchange emphasis serving a regional market.
• University of Tartu: Estonia's flagship public research university with extensive Erasmus and international partnerships, strong research output, and a multi-school structure. Comparable as a regional research university with international-exchange-driven positioning in a small market.

Direct peers

• International Black Sea University: Private university in Tbilisi offering multi-disciplinary undergraduate and graduate programs with international partnerships and exchange programs. Closely comparable in size, scope, and target market to FreeUni.
• Caucasus University: Private multi-disciplinary university in Tbilisi offering bachelor, master, and doctoral programs with international partnerships. Competes head-to-head with FreeUni for fee-paying Georgian students and the same international-recruitment positioning.
• Ilia State University: Major Tbilisi-based research university offering multi-disciplinary undergraduate and graduate programs with strong research output, including in physics and social sciences. Most directly comparable domestic competitor with overlapping schools, research orientation, and faculty pedigree.
• Georgian American University: Private higher-education institution in Tbilisi emphasizing English-language instruction and Western-style degrees. Directly comparable as a private, internationally-oriented Georgian university competing for similar fee-paying students.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/freeunimedia/videos
• Facebookfacebook.com/freeuni

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Free University of Tbilisi