Ed-Tech Unicorn Lead raises INR 35cr as debt from Alteria capital

• ByStartupStory     |    December 15, 2022

Mumbai based ed-tech company LEAD, earlier known as Lead school, has recently raised $4.2 million in a debt round from the venture debt firm Alteria Capital.

LEAD’s board passed a special resolution to issue 3,500 Series A non-convertible debentures to Alteria Capital to raise INR 35 Cr. Debentures has an issue price of 1,00,000.

Before this debt round the edtech startup raised $100 Mn in a Series E round of funding, which was led by WestBridge Capital and GSV Ventures. This was LEAD’s unicorn round, where it was valued at $1.1 Bn.   

Founded in 2012 by Sumeet Mehta and Smita Deorah, Mumbai-based LEAD is a school edtech startup. The startup enables schools to combine technology, curriculum, and pedagogy into an integrated teaching and learning system.

LEAD provides solutions such as digital resources, books, tech solutions, ERPs, and maths science kits, among others. According to the company’s website, it is present in more than 400 cities and works with 3,000+ schools to facilitate over 1.2 Mn students and 25,000 teachers.

In FY21, LEAD’s operating revenue grew 3X to INR 57.1 Cr versus the year-ago period. Surprisingly, losses, too, surged 2.5X to INR 126 Cr compared to FY20. Shortly after its unicorn round, it announced an ESOP buyback plan worth $3 Mn. The startup fired close to 100 employees in August 2022 in its efforts to cut costs, according to several media reports. 

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