JADE raises seed round from Jenson Ventures to unify university agent networks
What's the deal? JADEDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, which builds what it calls an "Agent Operating System for Higher Education Institutions," has raised a seed round from Jenson Ventures through the firm's SEIS Fund. The London company closed the investment in October 2026, days after relaunching under its new identity.
What does JADE do? Education agents recruit international students for universities across global markets, but institutions often manage those relationships across scattered teams, spreadsheets, and disconnected systems. JADE gives universities one platform to run the full agent lifecycle — onboarding, contracting, training, certification, oversight, and commissions.
Why now? UK universities using recruitment agents are now expected to retain evidence showing how those relationships are managed under the Agent Quality Framework. That reflects a wider push towards stronger institutional oversight, governance, and accountability.
Who's behind it? JADE was founded by Kamila and Dhaval Malavia. Kamila, now chief executive officer, has spent nearly two decades across universities and agent networks; Dhaval brings experience in technology and building businesses around complex operational problems.
What's the endgame? The platform aims to connect the recruitment, admissions, compliance, finance, and contract functions that each see only part of an agent relationship. "When each part is managed separately, it becomes much harder for an institution to see the full picture," Kamila Malavia said. For agents, it offers a more consistent way to access the information, training, and support they need to represent partners.
What the investor says: "International recruitment is strategically important to universities, yet the systems supporting their education agent networks have not always kept pace with the scale and complexity of those relationships," said Jeffrey Faustin, chief information officer and managing partner at Jenson Ventures. He added that the founders have "the ambition and complementary skills required to build a category-defining business."
The signal: As international student recruitment grows more global and regulators tighten rules on how agent relationships are governed, universities face pressure to prove oversight they often cannot see. JADE is betting that compliance-driven demand turns fragmented agent management into a software category.
Read more: jensonventures.com
Image credit: InSapphoWeTrust
