Brigie is developing a platform which will revolutionise the way international students apply to study in Australia and connect with other students and educational institutions.
The Australian international student market has been strongly growing each year with no sign to stop. However, the process for an international student to choose and apply to study in Australia from overseas is very old, slow, stressful and expensive to the students.
When an international student decides to come to Australia to study, it is a very stressful and hard process, which they don’t know very well where to start, what they need or have to do. That’s why Brigie will help and facilitate the way international students search, select and apply to study in Australia simply and interactively, with the ability to communicate with other students and educational institutions in Australia, all in a unique platform.
How exactly does Brigie work?
From the prototype version to the first test version of Brigie’s platform, the feedbacks from educational institutions and international students are strongly positive considering the advantages of using Brigie to apply to study in Australia. Brigie’s competitors are the “Students Agencies” which still use a slow paper-based process; today the students have concerns about the courses offered to them; they don’t know if the course is good or the “Student Agencies” are offering the course because they are making higher commissions on that specific course.
On Brigie the students will have the freedom to choose the course alone after considering reviews, checked course information and chat with other students. Applications on Brigie will be easy, fast and free to any student. Brigie will offer all services required by the international student to study in Australia from courses, flight tickets, accommodation, health insurance, guides, visa application, etc.
The Brigie platform will be available for download worldwide for iOS (iPhone and iPad), Android (phones and tablets).
What is the story behind Brigie?
Three brothers Nick, Mike and Guilherme from Brazil, who are currently living in Australia, have been working on Brigie’s development since November 2016.
Nick Borrego (30 years old) first came to Australia in April 2008 to study English. He faced many challenges when he was looking for information and the right people to help him with achieving his dream to study in Australia. Nick understands very well these difficulties international students encounter. He studied in Australia for almost five years until he became an Australian citizen and held many visas and school applications during this time.
Nick held a full-time job from 2012 to 2015 working as a vehicle processor and also held a freelancer job as a web and graphic designer, but always had the dream and passion to start his own business. On 2015 he and Mike (his brother) started a real estate business where Nick worked as a sales agent and Mike as a property manager on the rental properties.
Mike Borrego (28 years old) Mike came to Australia in January 2009 as an international student to study English. He lived as an international student for around five years until he became an Australian citizen. Mike currently works as a full time vehicle processor since 2011, also previously worked part-time on the real estate business with Nick where he developed his business relationship building skills.
He now has an important role within Brigie, which includes meeting with the education providers to explain and demonstrate how Brigie can help them and their international students, creating partnerships with institutions.
Guilherme Borrego (19 years old) is the youngest co-founder, at only 19 years old he came to Australia in November 2016 to study English. He is still an international student and he understands the current situation and processes that all international students need to go through in order to live and study in Australia.
Guilherme learnt web and graphic design in Brazil. When he was only 11 years old, he started working as a freelance designer upon finishing his course. When Guilherme turned 15 years old, he worked as a trainee in a large office in Brazil, where he developed his business management skills. He now is working full time on Brigie’s development and project management.
On November 2016 Nick and Mike’s younger brother Guilherme came to Australia, this was when Nick started to notice that the process to find and apply to study in Australia had not changed since when he came to Australia in 2008. Apart from that, Nick saw in the news that an international students agency had closed down and stolen all the money paid by the students.
Nick then started to think with his brothers of a better way to help international students find information about coming to Australia and apply to study in Australia using technology. Another concern that was in headlines was showing international students agencies were being motivated to only offer the highest paid commission courses to the students.
Nick and his brothers began their research to see if there was a need for a new way to help international students when coming to Australia to study, and it was clear that the way to improve this important market in Australia was by using technology for international students and educational providers.
