Overseas education platform Leap nets $55 mn in Series C

Overseas education-focused guidance and financing platform Leap has secured $55 million (about Rs 400 crore) in a Series C funding round led by Owl Ventures.     

The round also saw participation from Harvard Management Company along with existing investors Jungle Ventures and Sequoia Capital India.

Leap said it will use the new capital to extend its services to students across Southeast Asia and MENA regions. 

The company said it will also introduce international student credit cards and insurance products.    

The infusion comes after the company had raised $17 million (around 123 crore) in a funding round led by Singapore’s Jungle Ventures. 

So far, the company has raised over $75 million in equity capital.  

Leap was set up in 2019 by Arnav Kumar and Vaibhav Singh. 

The company says it operates two platforms – Leap Finance and Leap Scholar. 

The former focuses on financing, while the latter operates in the educational guidance and counselling space.     

Leap provides collateral-free education loan products to Indian students pursuing international education in the US. 

Since then, the startup has expanded the product suite to Canada, UK and Australia.  

“In the last 12 months, we have identified and filled key gaps in the international students’ journey - offering accurate information, guidance, financing and career support. Our ‘community & content’ approach has allowed rapid scaling to millions of users across geographies and product lines,” Arnav Kumar, co-founder, Leap, said in a statement.     

In May, Leap Finance acquired Sequoia-backed digital learning startup Yocket.  

Last year, San Francisco-based Owl Ventures scored bumper returns following its exit from WhiteHat Jr after the company was acquired by sector giant Byju’s.   

In August 2021, the company had announced that it plans to hire 500 employees by the end of the year, in India and abroad, to fortify its product and technology stack.  

As per company’s website, it has a tie-up with over 231 universities that support over 2300 courses. It has funded $175 million worth of loans to students to date.    

Leap says it has helped over 60,000 students with overseas education last year, and it aims to serve 1.5 lakh customers this year. Its community arm has two lakh monthly active users.