LEAD – an Indian school edtech player – has raised $100 million at a valuation of $1.1 Billion. The Series E funding round was led by WestBridge Capital and GSV Ventures, making this one of their largest EdTech investment. LEAD also claims to have become the first school edtech player to enter the Unicorn club, and first edtech Unicorn of 2022.
While most other edtech companies offer supplemental education in K-12 or higher education, LEAD is the only EdTech unicorn focused on transforming core schooling in India with its tech-integrated solutions, claims the platform. “The company has seen rapid adoption in the last four years and will enter the academic year 2022-23 with 5000 schools across 500+ cities in India with an annual revenue run-rate of $80 million. It’ll serve close to 2 million students,” claims the edtech in an official statement.
The company plans to use the proceeds to achieve its vision of providing quality affordable education to over 25 million students with an annual revenue run-rate of $1 billion. The immediate focus would be towards product and curriculum innovation, growth in its footprint and hiring top talent across functions. In the long term, the company plans to go deeper in the country to serve students in lower fee schools and expand internationally in similar geographies.
LEAD co-founders Sumeet Yashpal Mehta and Smita Deorah said, “a child spends six hours in school and only one hour in tuitions. Transforming schools, when done right, has massive potential to alter our country’s future. LEAD, with its integrated school system, has broken new ground in this direction. We believe that in EdTech, Saraswati precedes Lakshmi. Our intense focus has been on the learning outcomes and life success of our students. And this has resulted in not only strong adoption and retention by schools but also interest from investors who value returns with real impact.”
GSV Ventures Managing Partner Deborah Quazzo said, “LEAD acts as the Intel inside for affordable schools and guarantees over 70 per cent mastery in all subjects and all grades for low/middle-income students and exceeds the guarantee. We, at GSV, believe that the mastery guarantee is a revolutionary offering in K12 education space and has the potential to be societally transformational for students. With this strong and unique value proposition and exceptional management team, LEAD is well on its path to becoming world’s largest and most impactful School EdTech company.”
The company’s valuation has doubled in the last nine months on the back of strong growth in its operating and financial metrics. The current round is its fifth round of institutional funding since 2017.
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