Mumbai-based edtech company LEAD School, that transforms affordable private schools via its Integrated System, has raised US $28 million in a Series C funding round led by Westbridge Capital along with existing investor Elevar Equity. The latest round of funding will be used by the company to accelerate the development and rollout of new product offerings, increase its school network in Tier 2-3 cities and hire talent across domains.

LEAD School has grown at a rapid pace over the last 3 years and the current Series C round is its third round of institutional funding since 2017. Both the previous rounds were led by Elevar Equity, which remains a major stakeholder.

Founders Sumeet Yashpal Mehta and Smita Deorah began their LEAD School journey by running affordable schools and teaching middle school students. Through their hands-on experience, they built the LEAD School Integrated System with a mission to make excellent schools accessible and affordable to every child. In 2017, the company started offering its Integrated System to schools and has seen rapid adoption with more than 800 schools partnering with LEAD School. LEAD School now serves over 3 lakh+ students studying in these affordable private schools.

LEAD School Co-founder and CEO Sumeet Mehta, “We aim to democratize excellent learning by transforming schools in Tier 2-3-4 towns where the majority of India lives. Our firm belief is that every child, irrespective of

their economic background or location of birth, should have access to an excellent education. LEAD School partners with affordable private schools to transform them into centres of excellent learning through our Integrated System. In the last 3 years, we have seen rapid adoption by schools and class averages improvement from below 60% to above 70%. During this pandemic too, our Integrated System has enabled schools to deliver an uninterrupted learning experience for all students. The new round of funding will help us bring more innovation and reach more students and schools.”

“In the new world order, the lockdown ensuing the pandemic has given a massive boost to online education. In the last few months, the edtech sector has evolved rapidly, changing the trajectory of the Indian education system multifold. We see great potential in LEAD School, given their innovative and focused approach in ensuring accessible, quality school-level education for all. As a firm, we believe in investing in ventures that have a large scale impact and are convinced LEAD School will create a strong positive impact on the educational outcomes of millions of young minds”, said Sandeep Singhal, Managing Director, WestBridge Capital.

“We have seen LEAD go from strength to strength, growing to over 800 affordable private schools from fewer than 10 when Elevar first invested. What really differentiates LEAD is their strong solution orientation - understanding and addressing each school stakeholder’s pain points in depth, while keeping the child’s learning outcomes at the center of it all. We are even more excited about the future - as LEAD builds to solve the education quality conundrum in schools, at scale for the first time”, said Sandeep Farias, Founder and Managing Director, Elevar Equity.

LEAD School is betting big with LEAD School Integrated System (IS), a one-of-its-kind solution to transform school quality in India. With LEAD School IS, schools can offer a complete schooling experience to their students, irrespective of whether they’re physically open or shut. With this new round of funding, the company aims to bring innovation to schools hitherto unseen in India.