LEAD completes acquisition of Pearson’s local K-12 learning business; expands reach to 9,000 schools

Mumbai-based edtech firm LEAD on Wednesday said it has completed the acquisition of London-headquartered learning firm Pearson’s local K-12 learning business in India. 

With this strategic investment, the edtech company claims to have expanded its reach to over 9000 schools across India and more than five million students.

“Different school segments in India have very different learning needs,” Sumeet Mehta, Co-founder and CEO of LEAD, said. “With this acquisition, LEAD aims to serve as a single point solution provider for all the learning needs of both affordable private schools in India’s small towns, as well as private high-fee schools in its metros and large cities.”  

The acquisition will help LEAD reach 60,000 schools across India by 2026, the company said in a statement.

The edtech unicorn entered into an agreement with Pearson to acquire the latter’s local K-12 learning business in India in January.

At the time, the company had said that it planned to fund the acquisition through a combination of new fundraise and internal accruals, without giving out additional details.

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In the same month, LEAD raised about $20 million (Rs 160 crore) in debt from venture debt firms and banks. The funding round was via a mix of long-term capital from Stride Ventures and Alteria Capital , and working capital financing from banks such as Standard Chartered Bank, HDFC Bank , and ICICI Bank.

The edtech firm said it plans to use the fresh capital to help finance its organic and inorganic growth ambitions.

In January, LEAD also laid off more employees, just a few months after reducing its workforce by around 100 people. The edtech firm’s second round of workforce reduction came a few days after it entered into an acquisition agreement with Pearson India.

After joining the unicorn club in January last year, the company announced an employee stock ownership liquidation plan of nearly $3 million for its employees. But, in August, like many other companies in the edtech sector, LEAD laid off around 100 employees to cut costs. 

LEAD’s standalone loss widened over three-fold to Rs 397.1 crore in the financial year 2021-22 from Rs 126.1 crore in 2020-21. Its revenue more than doubled to Rs 133.2 crore in FY22 from Rs 57.1 crore in FY21. 

Founded in 2012 by Sumeet Mehta and Smita Deorah, LEAD’s integrated school system provides software, hardware curriculum, books, a school kit, and training sessions.