Leap, a two-year-old startup with headquarters in San Francisco and Bangalore that’s serving to college students in India discover the correct school, put together for checks, safe visas and mortgage, mentioned on Wednesday it has raised $55 million in a brand new financing spherical from a number of high-profile edtech backers.
Leap mentioned it has raised $55 million in a brand new financing spherical led by Owl Ventures. The Series C spherical additionally noticed participation from Harvard Management Company, extra popularly recognized for being a high-profile LP to enterprise funds. Existing buyers Sequoia Capital India and Jungle Ventures additionally participated within the spherical, which follows a Series B funding in March this yr and brings Leap Finance’s all-time increase to over $75 million.
Arnav Kumar, co-founder of Leap, instructed TechCrunch that the startup sits on the intersection of edtech and fintech. It’s serving to college students in India discover the correct school for admission overseas and in addition guaranteeing that they’ve the visas and capital to check there.
It’s a large market that the startup is tapping.
Hundreds of 1000’s of youngsters and younger adults get on flights every year from India to a overseas land to pursue greater schooling. But they face numerous challenges, together with some that current themselves after they’ve landed within the overseas land.
Since they don’t have an area credit score historical past, they will’t avail a variety of monetary providers, together with a mortgage or a bank card — at the very least not with out paying a premium for it. For banks and different monetary establishments, there may be an elevated threat after they have interaction with foreigners, in order that they cost extra. An Indian scholar learning within the U.S., for example, borrows cash at an rate of interest of over 13%, almost twice of what their native friends are charged.
Leap is addressing the monetary half by granting loans to college students at a good rate of interest by evaluating the info they generated — various and derived — in India itself.
But finance is just one of its choices. The startup has aggressively expanded its choices to supply what it calls a broader infrastructure to allow college students to pursue worldwide greater schooling.
Leap has developed a neighborhood of over 1 million college students the place they advise one another and discover choices. Leap Finance mentioned it has helped over 60,000 college students of their research overseas journey over the past 18 months — and simply had its strongest fall season.
Vaibhav Singh (left) and Arnav Kumar based Leap Finance in 2019 (Leap Finance)
Since we final spoke about Leap Finance, the startup has demonstrated sturdy progress on numerous fronts, mentioned Kumar. Its neighborhood has grown (including 100,000 college students every month), the check preparation app is more and more changing into fashionable, and its core monetary providers has additionally surged, he mentioned.
On high of this, the startup has expanded its choices to assist college students with making ready for — and touchdown — internships after they do be a part of a school overseas, fixing one other facet during which they battle.
Now with the brand new funding, the startup is planning to develop to serve worldwide markets together with Middle East and Southeast Asia and assist the scholars pursue greater schooling in 20 nations, mentioned Kumar, who beforehand labored as an affiliate vp at enterprise fund Elevation Capital.
“Leap is on the trajectory to become the preeminent study abroad platform for students. The overseas education market is fragmented where there is no single one-stop solution,” mentioned Amit Patel, Managing Director of Owl Ventures, in an announcement.
“It can be very confusing for students to know where to begin preparation, what colleges they should target, and how they are going to afford to pay for their education. Leap is creating a comprehensive platform that addresses all of these preparation and financing needs for students. Owl Ventures is excited to deepen our partnership with Vaibhav, Arnav, and the Leap team to make studying abroad a reality for as many students as possible.”
This is a creating…
