Lead School after raising $100 million funding becomes India’s third unicorn of 2022

Mumbai based edtech startup Lead School provides digital solutions to schools with an emphasis on digital learning through an online or hybrid model of classrooms in over 5,000 schools across 500 cities.
Lead School emphasizes on partnering with schools rather than reaching directly to children.

Co-founder Sumeet Mehta explained, "Everyone in K-12 has been talking about edtech that bypasses schools and goes straight to students. Everyone is concerned with test preparation and tuition costs. Because people have come to terms with the fact that schools can't be improved. But we had a different idea, that’s why we focused on an edtech solution for schools."

Lead School has become the third startup to join India's unicorn club in 2022, after raising $100 million from investors led by GSV Ventures and WestBridge Capital, bringing its valuation to $1.1 billion in less than a year. It is also the sixth edtech company in India to achieve unicorn status.

In India, there are over 1.5 million schools, half of which are private. According to Mehta, Lead School has reached only 5,000 schools, which is only 1% of the total. "For schools, Lead adopts a result-oriented approach. The learning outcomes of students have increased by 20% to 25%. This funding will help schools in India, which are in desperate need of innovation.”

Sandeep Singhal, managing director at WestBridge Capital further said, "Despite Covid interruptions, Lead’s rise last year demonstrate its consumer-first approach and intense focus on learning outcomes. We are excited raise our investment in Lead to support its aim of improving the Indian education industry."

However, the startup hopes to reach 2 million students across the country by the start of the next fiscal year. In 2021-22, according to Mehta, the edtech firm will have an annual contract value of $80 million derived from cooperating schools.