Manchester EdTech startup The JADE App secures £450k investment to transform how universities manage international recruitment agents
Manchester-based educational technology startup JADE has secured £450k in investment, led by GC Angels alongside co-investor Jenson Ventures, to support product development, commercial growth and expansion into international markets.
Founded in 2025 by Kamila and Dhaval Malavia, JADE develops software to help higher education institutions manage their relationships with international student recruitment agents.
The idea for JADE emerged from Kamila Malavia’s experience working in international higher education and student recruitment where she saw how important recruitment agents were in connecting prospective students with universities, but also how difficult it could be for institutions to manage these relationships effectively. Working with co-founder Dhaval Malavia, who brings technology expertise, she set out to develop a platform to address these challenges.
JADE brings essential agent management processes into one platform, including training and certification, resource management, contracts, analytics and commission management. The company is also developing additional capabilities around agent onboarding, due diligence and compliance, helping institutions strengthen oversight of their international recruitment networks. The issue has become increasingly significant as institutions face greater scrutiny over international student recruitment and the processes used to oversee their agent networks.
The company has established relationships with institutions including the Royal College of Art, and was a finalist in The PIEoneer Awards 2026. Its platform is being used by institutions across the UK, Ireland, Malta, France, Spain, the US and Canada, with over 600 education agents from 120 countries on the platform.
JADE’s route to investment began through GC Angels’ Venture Forward accelerator programme, where the business took part in the second cohort. The programme helped the founders develop their understanding of fundraising, assess their business from an investor’s perspective and prepare for the investment process.
Since securing the funding, the company has continued developing its platform in response to feedback from institutions and building its operational and commercial capabilities. The team has attended industry events in the UK, Ireland and Germany, alongside further engagement in North America. It has also organised its first International Recruitment Leadership Forum in Ireland, bringing together representatives from universities across the country to discuss international recruitment, agent governance and compliance.
The investment will support further product development, commercial growth and team expansion. JADE has also strengthened its commercial leadership with the appointment of Adam Pettit as commercial director, who brings around 15 years’ international higher education experience and is supporting the company’s expansion into key international markets.
Kamila Malavia, co-founder and CEO of JADE, said: “Having spent almost two decades in international higher education and student recruitment, I saw how difficult it was for institutions to manage agent relationships using fragmented systems. Dhaval and I founded JADE because we believed universities needed a dedicated technology platform to bring these processes together and strengthen oversight of their international recruitment networks.
“The Venture Forward programme fundamentally changed how we approached fundraising and helped us understand our business from an investor’s perspective. The guidance from Ranvir and the wider GC Angels team was invaluable.
“This investment is an important milestone for us. It is enabling us to develop the platform, strengthen our team and accelerate our international growth. Our ambition is to establish JADE as the operating system for higher education institutions around the world.”
Ranvir Singh, senior investment manager at GC Angels, said: “JADE is addressing a practical challenge for higher education institutions, particularly as expectations around recruitment agent oversight and compliance increase.”
“Having supported Kamila and Dhaval through Venture Forward, it’s encouraging to see their progress and the programme’s ability to get ambitious founders investor-ready. The investment will help the business develop its product, strengthen its commercial capabilities and build on its international presence.”