LeverageEdu, an edtech startup that helps Indian students gain admission to global universities, has raised $6.5m in its latest round of funding.
According to the company, $100 million early-stage strategic investment fund Tomorrow Capital led the round. Existing investors, including Blume Ventures and DSG Consumer Partners, put in $2.8 million.
“Lot of the proceeds will also go towards building up on our pedagogy”
The funds will be used to expand into new markets and develop the company’s focus on teaching methods and student-first tools.
“We want the right counselling and the ability to take right career decisions to reach the smallest parts of India, and hence on the demand side will be focused on reaching tier-2,3 / smaller towns,” Akshay Chaturvedi, founder & CEO of Leverage Edu told The PIE News.
“On the supply side, we want to go deeper into the UK universities’ ecosystem, as well as start going deeper in another country this year.
“Lot of the proceeds will also go towards building up on our pedagogy, student-first tools, that make the student experience unique and giving in the long term, because we don’t just want the students to get to the universities but become the best versions of themselves there.”
#FundingAlert | @leverageedu has raised ₹47 cr in Series A financing. @MeghaVishwanath speaks with Founder & CEO @Akshay001 about the fund raise & more#StartupStreet #HotSeat #Edtech pic.twitter.com/MDxh89j1Ge
— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18News) February 22, 2021
Founded in 2017 by Chaturvedi, Leverage Edu aims to empower students across India to choose the best-matched career & higher education options, with “one-touch access to personalised mentors and leading global universities”.
The company has raised a total of 600 million rupees (US$8.3 million) to date and helps students match with the right higher-education option, with access to over 2,500 mentors and global universities.
Experts, speaking last year at a PIE webinar on the Indian student recruitment landscape, said that India is poised to become the world’s largest student source market.
Despite the pandemic, Leverage Edu has reported high demand. The company says that it served over 3,000 students during the pandemic.
Speaking with The PIE last year Leverage Edu noted that lending companies were increasing their offering for students to meet the increase in demand.
“We’ve seen a massive surge in loan financing for international students,” Akshay Chaturvedi told The PIE in June 2020.
“On our platform, we serve as an aggregator, bringing to students best-matched options from over a dozen education finance providers.
“Lately, not only are more students opting for flexible loan programs, but we are also witnessing financial companies coming out with interesting student-friendly products, which as a student-first platform we are very happy and excited about.”