Luke Nolan
Founder & CEO, student.com
Luke is Founder and CEO of Student.com, the world’s largest marketplace for student accommodation. An entrepreneur at heart, Luke had the idea for a student accommodation marketplace when friends in Asia asked for help finding accommodation while they studied abroad. An initial platform – Overseas Student Living – was created in 2011 and became the first online marketplace for Asian students to access student accommodation in the UK. Luke quickly realised there was an opportunity to help a rapidly increasing global community of international students. In 2014, the company re-branded to Student.com and became the largest accommodation marketplace for international students studying abroad. A keen businessman, Luke was involved in the Chinese real estate sector prior to founding Student.com. Before moving to Asia, where lived for over 10 years, he had first-hand experience of being an international student, both in London where he received a bachelor’s degree in Banking and International Finance from Cass Business School and in Milan, where he received a Master’s in International Economics and Management from SDA Bocconi. Though born in London to Irish-Portuguese parents, Luke grew up in Antwerp, Belgium so considers himself a truly international entrepreneur, speaking English, Chinese and Portuguese.
