The telecommunications engineer from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) Pere Rúbies defines himself as an expert in process digitalization and online marketing who has been helping companies with their digital transformation and boosting the scalability of startups for over ten years. Among the emerging companies that have relied on him, GrowPro undoubtedly stands out, a company for which he has become CEO, making life easier for young people who want to train, work, or simply learn a language in international destinations.
GrowPro was created by Goiko Llobet and Pablo Gil in Melbourne, Australia, in 2013. It was born with the aim that no one would be alone upon landing in that destination. Two years later, Rúbies joined to promote its internationalization. And those goals have been met.
Currently, GrowPro is an international educational experience platform called GrowPro Experience that operates from Spain in several destinations (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United States, Ireland, Malta, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, and Argentina). This year, 2022, it expects a turnover of more than 20 million euros, tripling its results compared to 2019, when it reached sales of 7.5 million euros. The business has registered exponential growth. Since its foundation, it has managed to exceed 15,000 students or young people who have placed their trust in the platform to change their residence and expects to add 4,500 new clients throughout this year.
The company acknowledges that GrowPro's technology and operational capacity facilitate the relocation of young people. "We prioritize hiring in the destination, increasing teams in different countries, to ensure that the experience will be unforgettable for those who want to live, study or work abroad and to be able to provide them with the necessary support before, during and after the trip," explains Goiko Llobet.
In addition, the company works with more than 30 agencies worldwide so that they can offer a wide international educational catalog and a great experience for the student in the destination always with the support of the GrowPro staff. The team currently consists of 235 people located in the 15 offices the company has in different countries. In Barcelona, they are on Avenida Diagonal.
In December 2021, GrowPro closed a one-million-euro financing round, led by Angels Capital, the investment company of Valencian businessman Juan Roig. With the operation, Javier López (founder of Erasmusu), Borja García-Fuster (CEO of All Iron Sports), Íñigo Juantegui (CEO of Ontruck), and Alejandro Artacho (CEO of Spotahome) also entered the startup's capital.
In 2021, the company closed its first financing round and raised one million eurosIn the last fiscal year, they developed their own software aimed at managing information to improve the platform's efficiency. At GrowPro Experience, students find all the information and advice they need to achieve a happy academic, social, and cultural stay. For this reason, it carefully works on the profile of all the cities in which it operates.He speaks of Barcelona as a city that blends contact with nature, modernity, and a cultural tradition spanning many centuries, in addition to highlighting its culture, art, history, architecture, beaches, and super peoplecool. It talks about living conditions, climate, entertainment, accommodation, administrative procedures for working, places to study, live, have fun... And it does so for all those cities where it provides its services.
The company's executives explain that the destination currently registering the highest demand for the 2022-2023 academic year is Australia, whose borders reopened to international students just a month ago, followed by Canada and New Zealand. The company confirms that the reopening of borders after COVID-19 has rekindled students' enthusiasm for an experience abroad, as demonstrated by the fact that it has attracted more than 4,000 attendees to the events it organizes in different destinations.