APRIL 2018 FORBES ASIA | 39Sharndre Kushor and Jamie Beaton
COFOUNDERS, CRIMSON EDUCATION
work toward what we believe is best for
modern travelers,” he says.
He points to Klook’s foray into Europe
and North America. “We have broadened
our reach... more users coming from dif-
ferent countries with a diferent cultural
upbringing,” he says. “Klook will continue
to optimize and localize our user experi-
ence to serve more travelers worldwide.”
With this year’s 3 0 Under 3 0 Asia
event to be held in Hong Kong, Gnock
Fah is efusive in his praise for the city’s
improving climate for startups and
innovators. “he Hong Kong startup
community has been thriving in the past
few years,” he says. “With its inherentdiversity, Hong Kong attracts worldwide
talent and has formed a community that
is vibrant, globally minded and ambi-
tious. “Hong Kong’s proximity to Shen-
zhen, China’s largest technology hub,
also provides abundant resources for
companies that are driving technological
innovation.”Also 2017 honorees, New Zealand-based Beaton and Kushor
were recognized for their work with Crimson Education, an
online platform that helps students everywhere connect with
services including tuition for extracurricular tutoring and uni-
versity admissions advice.
Describing business the past year as “phenomenal,” the pair
tells Forbes: “Each year our student results raise the bar, and
this year has been no exception. he Ivy League reported that
its recent early admissions round was the most competitive
ever. Despite this, 50% of our students who applied for early
admission to Harvard gained acceptance, despite the reported
14.5% admissions rate for early applicants. Crimson also sup-
ported 11 successful applications to Oxford and Cambridge,
despite Oxford receiving nearly 6 applications for each available
place.”
Ater securing $ 3 0 million from a series B funding round in
2016, Crimson—which started life as a Facebook page—is now
valued at more than $200 million, according to media reports,
backed by investors in the U.S. and China. “Our systems enable
us to capture relevant data on the student experience as well as
their individual progress, and allows us to make data-informed
decisions over the course of their program to ensure they
achieve the best outcomes—and have a blast doing so,” says
Beaton.
Would they have done anything diferently, in hindsight?
“As we have grown, the impact that our technology has had
on the quality of our service delivery and the student journey
has skyrocketed, and I see this continuing on into the distant
future,” says Beaton. “If only we had started just a little earlier,
who knows where we’d be right now.” —Paul Armstrong