Edtech Company Lead School raises $30 million from GSV Ventures of Silicon Valley & Others
Lead School, an edtech company that helps private schools digitise their curriculum, has raised $30 million in a Series D funding round led by GSV Ventures of Silicon Valley. GSV's portfolio companies include Coursera, which went public last month, Course Hero, and ClassDojo, among others, all of which are focused on the education market.
Westbridge Capital, an existing investor in the Mumbai-based firm, contributed nearly half of the new capital raised in the new round.
Sumeet Mehta and Smita Deorah founded the company in 2012, and it started out by operating low-cost schools and teaching middle-school students.
The funds will be used to develop a pan-India brand, roll out new product offerings, make strategic acquisitions, and hire top talent across domains to help the company accelerate its growth.
“The proceeds will be used for curriculum and product innovation. Our goal is to continue to reach more schools and students,” said Sumeet Mehta, CEO and co-founder, Lead School, in an interview with ET. Last year in August, the company had picked up $28 million in a funding round led by WestBridge Capital and Elevar Equity. WestBridge is also an investor in Vedantu, an online tutoring platform.
Lead School has partnered with over 2,000 schools. “The goal is to reach 25,000 schools in the next five years,” Mehta said.
So far, it has concentrated on cities in tier two and three geographies. That will remain their primary goal. In its programme, the platform claims to be able to demonstrate a visible change in student learning. According to Mehta, after the adoption of their offering, class averages increased from below 60% to above 70%.
According to Mehta, during the year-long Covid-19 pandemic, offline tuition centres have shifted to the online medium. Students may choose to research in an offline environment until schools reopen.
In December, Lead paid an undisclosed amount for QuizNext, a student assessment and practice website. They're willing to make more purchases. "If there are people who have great solutions for students but are unable to build reach, we can do that for them," Mehta said. It will continue to be in the K-12 segment. "There's so much to be done in K-12," he said.
In the past year, the edtech market has seen a surge of funding, with companies like Byju's leading the charge. The sector has been kept busy by both funding deals and restructuring steps. As per the reports, upGrad raised $120 million in a round led by Singapore's sovereign fund Temasek.
Westbridge Capital, an existing investor in the Mumbai-based firm, contributed nearly half of the new capital raised in the new round.
Sumeet Mehta and Smita Deorah founded the company in 2012, and it started out by operating low-cost schools and teaching middle-school students.
The funds will be used to develop a pan-India brand, roll out new product offerings, make strategic acquisitions, and hire top talent across domains to help the company accelerate its growth.
“The proceeds will be used for curriculum and product innovation. Our goal is to continue to reach more schools and students,” said Sumeet Mehta, CEO and co-founder, Lead School, in an interview with ET. Last year in August, the company had picked up $28 million in a funding round led by WestBridge Capital and Elevar Equity. WestBridge is also an investor in Vedantu, an online tutoring platform.
Lead School has partnered with over 2,000 schools. “The goal is to reach 25,000 schools in the next five years,” Mehta said.
So far, it has concentrated on cities in tier two and three geographies. That will remain their primary goal. In its programme, the platform claims to be able to demonstrate a visible change in student learning. According to Mehta, after the adoption of their offering, class averages increased from below 60% to above 70%.
According to Mehta, during the year-long Covid-19 pandemic, offline tuition centres have shifted to the online medium. Students may choose to research in an offline environment until schools reopen.
In December, Lead paid an undisclosed amount for QuizNext, a student assessment and practice website. They're willing to make more purchases. "If there are people who have great solutions for students but are unable to build reach, we can do that for them," Mehta said. It will continue to be in the K-12 segment. "There's so much to be done in K-12," he said.
In the past year, the edtech market has seen a surge of funding, with companies like Byju's leading the charge. The sector has been kept busy by both funding deals and restructuring steps. As per the reports, upGrad raised $120 million in a round led by Singapore's sovereign fund Temasek.
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