The move marks a shift for the Mumbai-based company, which has so far focused on private schools. While profitability has improved due to cost rationalization, revenue growth has plateaued, prompting the firm to widen its customer base.
Sumeet Mehta, LEAD’s cofounder and chief executive, told Mint the company is open to inorganic expansion to enter the segment. “There is considerable spending in government schools, but these are not yielding the desired student outcomes. OurLearning System is proven and delivers improved learning outcomes at scale. With the right partner, there is thus an incredible opportunity to ensure every child across India has access to affordable, high-quality education,” Mehta said. Learning System is LEAD’s education platform, which includes teachers’ lesson plans, student assessment indicators and results, remedial courses, and even homework.
LEAD is targeting two acquisition types: firms with strong ties to untapped school networks and those focused on government schools. The latter is a priority due to the scale of public spending and the gap in learning outcomes. While there’s no fixed timeline, Mehta said the company is actively scouting and plans to fund these buyouts through a small fundraise—without adding new investors.
“If you look at our cap table, we have a very selective, small set of investors,” said Mehta.
WestBridge Capital, GSV Ventures and Elevar Equity are backing the company, which last raised funds in 2022 at a unicorn valuation in a $100 million Series E led by WestBridge. Industry executives say government partnerships could provide LEAD with massive scale.
“Government contracts give you scale. You get into that, and the upside is that you can reach a very large base very quickly,” said Nitin Bhatia, managing director, DC Advisory. The SaaS-based curriculum and high use of technology could improve the curriculum in government schools, said Bhatia, an expert in education technology and SaaS startups at the investment bank.
At the same time, structural challenges remain. “Doing it with the government has its challenges,” Bhatia cautioned. “Collection is a problem…Sometimes you can have very long collection cycles, as had happened with someNSDC (National Skill Development Corporation) programmes a few years back. Teacher adoption is another question in my mind. I don’t know the tools that are available to motivate government teachers to deliver this curriculum.”
Tailwinds from NEP
Given that LEAD deals in both the software and hardware sides of its product suite for schools, the company hopes that its focus on digital adoption will help bolster the business. The tailwinds are there, courtesy of the National Education Policy (NEP) launched in 2020 that replaced the 1986 version of the National Policy on Education.
In fact, it’s a gap that the company would be wise to address, given that digital adoption at schools is on the rise. According to an article from the Observer Research Foundation, digital hardware availability has jumped from 34% in 2018-19 to 57% in 2023-24, citing the government’s Unified District Information System for Education Plus data.
While internet access has also improved, government schools continue to falter, and LEAD sees the opportunity for a larger total addressable market.
Formal schools serve 24.8 crore students across 14.72 lakh schools, according to data from the education ministry’s UDISE+ 2023-24. Government schools are the larger segment by far, accounting for 69% of the total, enrolling 50% of students and employing 51% of all teachers. In comparison, private sector schools only enrol about 22.5% of the total, enrolling 32.6% of students and employing 38% of teachers.
“As schools start to look increasingly at the requirements from the NEP, they’re realising that real learning outcomes are required. Rote learning will not work. The only barrier to adoption of something like our Learning System is the entrenched habits of teachers and schools,” Mehta said.
LEAD’s product suite includes both software and hardware. Last year, it launched TECHBOOK—a tablet-like device for maths, English, and science—with AI-powered assistants that personalize learning plans. LEAD School is set to launch two new AI offerings, Speak Pro and Write Pro, AI-powered programmes to improve students’ English speaking and writing skills from 1 September.
Flat revenue, shrinking losses
For FY25, LEAD’s revenue from operations remained flat at ₹351.8 crore, up just 0.4% from ₹350.5 crore in FY24. However, the company narrowed its standalone net loss by nearly 70% to ₹43.3 crore from ₹143 crore a year earlier, aided by cuts in employee costs, marketing expenditure, and impairment losses on financial assets. Total expenditure for the year declined 20% to ₹410.7 crore. Founded in 2012 by Mehta and Smita Deorah, LEAD offers a SaaS-based learning system combining a proprietary digital curriculum, tech-driven assessments, and mobile-enabled at-home learning.
The company claims to have served over 8,600 schools and 3.6 million students nationwide. It also has backers, including ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Stride Ventures, and Alteria Capital, and has raised more than $180 million to date. LEAD is targeting an initial public offer (IPO) within the next two to three years, or sooner if revenue scales to ₹1,000 crore alongside net profitability,Mintreported in February.
