Crimson Education Group Attracts Heavy Hitters

Crimson Education Group has secured an industry-leading 1490 offers to the Ivy League, 4003 offers to the UK Top 10, and 3254 offers to the USA Top 20 schools.

Alumni have gone on to work at companies including OpenAI, DeepMind, Tesla, Waymo, Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, Bain and Co., Boston Consulting Group, Blackstone, Warburg Pincus, KKR, Citadel and other leading firms.

The group has continued to attract leading figures, naming former Prime Minister Rt Hon Sir John Key as chair of the Group, and senior tech executive Sundeep Jain as board director leading the technology and product committee.

Sir John has been an advisory member of the board since 2019 and has established a deep footprint in governance since leaving politics: he previously served on the board of Air New Zealand and as chair of ANZ Bank New Zealand and was on the ANZ Banking Group Australia board. He is a current director of Silicon Valley cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks and Fortera USA, and the chair of international Dunedin business Oritain Global Limited.

Mr Jain is a global leader in the technology industry and the current president of AI hiring startup Mercor. His previous roles include Chief Product Officer and SVP Engineering at Uber and Vice President of Products at Google.

Crimson Education Group made key acquisitions in 2025, including the physical Takapuna AGE school campus and the online school Mount Hobson Academy; established New Zealand's first comprehensive hybrid educational model; and expanded into the charter school model with the founding of Aotearoa Infinite Academy.

In late 2024 the Group completed a successful NZ$67.6 million Series D funding round that included venture capital fund Movac, HEAL Partners, Icehouse Ventures, US News, Five Sigma, and HighSage Ventures. That round, at a NZ$1 billion valuation, cemented the education technology company’s place among the world’s biggest education companies and positioned it as the first K-12-focused edtech company in Australia and New Zealand to achieve unicorn status.

Crimson Education Group co-founder and CEO Jamie Beaton says, “We are thrilled to appoint Sir John as chair and Sundeep Jain as independent director of the Group board. Sir John will bring his extensive knowledge of business, including global high-growth companies like Palo Alto Networks, which is one of Silicon Valley's top cyber security firms with a market cap of more than US$100 billion. His role is to help lead Crimson into the next phase of growth.

“Sir John’s deep experience in finance, acquisitions, listings, capital raisings, and other key transactions will be a tremendous asset to the board, and he will help with our intention to support more countries with their education policies.

“Sundeep has proven he can scale marketplaces globally, navigate complex product portfolios, leverage AI at massive scale, and guide companies through fundraising and strategic growth – exactly what Crimson needs as it expands internationally. His guidance will be instrumental to the board and his expertise will complement Crimson’s AI- and platform-driven strategy.

“Sundeep is in the thick of it right now as the president of a $10 billion tech company that is in hyper growth. He holds a public company board seat at DoubleVerify (NYSE), and he founded a company and sold it, so he understands entrepreneurial challenges from both sides.”

Sir John says, "I've spent many years now working with some of Silicon Valley's biggest tech companies, and I can see Crimson has the same ingredients you need for serious global scale - the right technology, the right team, and a model that actually works across different markets. When you add in what they're doing to expand educational access throughout the world, you've got a business that's both commercially smart and making a real difference.

"My job is straightforward - to help them navigate the next phase of growth, open doors internationally, and make sure they've got the governance and financial frameworks to become a genuine global leader in education. I don't take on roles unless I think we can win, and I think we can win here."

Mr Jain says, “As a board member I am interested in a number of elements, including guiding Crimson as it expands and adapts its offering to each new market, furthering Crimson’s tech strategy as AI continues to transform education, and cultivating investor relationships and strategic options that work for the Group at each stage of growth. Under Jamie’s leadership Crimson has established a remarkable footprint and high degree of influence for a young company, and I am looking forward to bringing my global perspective to its governance.”

Image by ajay_suresh - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=179378484