Mist closes $1.6 million seed round for student relocation service app

Sydney app startup Mist has recently concluded a $1.6 million seed round, with participation from Investible, Allectus Capital, Archangel Ventures, Seedspace, and The Hunter Angels. The company’s app is targeted at aiding the relocation process for international students and skilled migrants.

The app aims to streamline the relocation experience by offering practical help for issues commonly faced by international students and workers. These include payment services, local account and SIM setup, health cover and student cards – all before leaving their home countries.

It also offers cross-border payment services, Visa card issuance, and student discounts.

“The process of moving to a new country to study is stressful and complicated. As the international student market continues to grow rapidly, Mist is developing our application to ensure a smooth relocation by solving many of the pre-departure issues around verification, payments, and communications,” John Crutchley, founder and CEO at Mist, said.

According to Crutchley, the seed funding will enable Mist to launch its services with education agents, institutions, and accommodation providers to help cater to the specific and varied needs of students across the world.

Mist confirmed with SmartCompany that some of its current partners aren’t traditional financial institutions or telecommunications companies. Instead, it is partnered with Novatti for banking and payments and Xtreme Communications for SIM distribution which it says works with multiple providers.

Investor Jayden Basha from Investible commented on the potential of Mist in the growing sector of international education.

“JC and Dave are experienced startup operators, whose collective expertise and industry knowledge will set Mist up for success,” Basha said.

“Their offering is poised to tackle the rapidly growing international education sector in Australia, with student migration now exceeding pre-COVID levels. Mist will become synonymous with the relocation process for students studying abroad.”

At the present time, Mist is firmly focused on servicing students and workers looking to come to Australia — with some of the biggest interest coming from China and India. However, it does hope to expand into the US, UK, and Canada further down the line.