Edtech start-up LEAD has raised ₹160 crore in funding through a mix of long-term capital from Alteria Capital and Stride Ventures, and working capital financing from banks — Standard Chartered Bank, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank.
In January 2022, LEAD had raised $100 million at a valuation of $1.1 billion. The company said, this latest funding round underscores LEAD’s ability to attract traditional financing, laying emphasis on sustainable cash flows and positive unit economics.
With the path to profitability for LEAD’s base business of Affordable Private Schools already established through existing capital, the new round of fundraising will help finance the company’s organic and inorganic growth ambitions, it added.
LEAD recently has laid off 60 employees from tech and product teams, reportedly. However, the company has not confirmed the layoffs.
Sumeet Mehta, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of LEAD, said, “Traditionally, start-ups have had limited avenues for raising capital beyond equity. However, with our strong unit economics and a clear path to profitability, we have been able to attract non-dilutive, traditional capital from India’s biggest banks and largest venture debt funds, which is value accretive to our shareholders.”
LEAD is poised for 2X growth and this latest round of funding will help fast-track the mission of providing high-quality, integrated School Edtech solutions to over 60,000 schools across India by 2026, he added.
Agreement with Pearson
Last week, LEAD entered into an agreement with Pearson, a learning company, to acquire its local K-12 learning business in India. With this acquisition, LEAD said it will immediately expand its reach to over 9,000 schools and will further enhance its product portfolio to cater to the entire spectrum of over 5 lakh private schools in India.