Edtech unicorn LEAD dives into personalised learning with interactive books

Moving beyond the limits of conventional textbooks, edtech unicorn LEAD Group has taken a step towards personalised learning with its latest launch—physical books that open the door to a connected digital world tailored to each student’s needs.

This comes at a time when personalised learning is gaining momentum, with edtech companies, including PhysicsWallah, ALLEN and Sri Chaitanya’s Infinity Learn focusing on tailoring education to each student’s unique needs and pace.

These alternatives to traditional textbooks, called ‘TECHBOOKS', will initially be available in three core subjects—English, Maths, and Science—targeting students from classes 1 to 8.

With the help of a connected app, teachers and students can scan TECHBOOK pages to unlock personalised learning features like IRA (Independent Reading Assistant), PIE (Personalized Interactive Exercises), and ARI (Augmented Reality Instructor). 

These tools are designed to enhance reading, practice, and learning through augmented reality, making the experience more immersive and tailored, according to the edtech firm.

“Two years ago, we were figuring out how to make learning personalised. With all the talk about GenAI and NCF 2023, we knew that the current methods of learning would ultimately need to change,” LEAD Group Co-founder and CEO Sumeet Mehta, told YourStory.

NCF 2023 (The National Curriculum Framework 2023) provides guidelines for holistic, flexible, and competency-based education in India, in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The NEP, which replaced the 1986 National Policy on Education, was approved to usher in large-scale, transformational reforms across school and higher education sectors.

It took the Mumbai-based company over 18 months and an investment of close to 25 crore to develop these solutions.

Mehta believes that personalised learning is the “holy grail of school education”. In a class of 40 students, true personalisation is challenging, but with the assistance of technology, it becomes achievable, he adds.

The challenge with personalisation is that a lot of the solutions available in the market are separate from the curriculum being taught in the school, making them more like extracurricular activities, Mehta explains.

“There isn’t something that integrates personalisation so closely with the curriculum, so that for the child, it’s a seamless experience between the classroom and home. That’s what we were tempted to build,” he notes.

The TECHBOOKS, according to Mehta, will be priced at Rs 300 in addition to the cost of a standard textbook, which typically costs around Rs 600.

In the first year (academic year 2025-26), the school edtech company plans to collaborate on an invite-only basis with around 400 progressive schools that are open to technology and innovation. Over the next five years, the goal is to gain acceptance from nearly 5,000 schools.

This new product will expand the range of digital learning solutions already offered by the pureplay B2B edtech company to schools.

Focus on profitability

The school edtech firm, which experienced a major hit to its business during the pandemic, recently revealed some of its numbers for the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), reporting revenues of Rs 370 crore—a 25% year-on-year growth—while reducing its cash burn by 65%. 

According to Mehta, in FY24, LEAD “cut its losses by two-thirds”, which would be around Rs 107 crore. This follows a reported loss of Rs 321.9 crore in FY23, which was an 18.5% reduction year-over-year.

“The results for FY24 were strong, and FY25 is projected to see profitable growth. The first quarter is already profitable. For FY25 and FY26, we anticipate growth, as the challenges from COVID have been behind us for over a year now,” Mehta remarked.

To clarify, the company was profitable at an EBITDA level in the first quarter of FY25 and expects to maintain this level of profitability throughout the current financial year. 

EBITDA-level profitability refers to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation, highlighting the company’s operational efficiency without factoring in financial and non-operational costs.

The sharp focus on profitability, with companies shifting gears towards sustainable growth, comes as India’s edtech sector—once booming during the pandemic—faces a reality check with layoffs and funding woes.

That said, there are some positives, with companies like Alakh Pandey-led PhysicsWallah and Ashwin Damera-led Eruditus both in talks to raise $150 million funding rounds. Back in June, Ronnie Screwvala-led upGard secured around $35 million in debt.

Speaking of funding, Mehta highlighted, “For this year, I don’t think we need it. Our internal accruals should be sufficient to fund our growth aspirations. Maybe in the second half of next year, we might consider it.”

According to Tracxn, LEAD has raised over $171 million to date. In January 2023, it secured $20 million in debt, following a $4.2 million debt round from Alteria Capital in December 2022. Earlier in 2022, the edtech company bagged $100 million in a Series E round led by WestBridge Capital and GSV Ventures, at a valuation of $1.1 billion, officially joining the unicorn club.

School journey

Founded in 2012 by Mehta and Smita Deorah, LEAD provides a comprehensive system that includes software, hardware, curriculum, books, school kits, and training sessions. The company serves over 8,000 schools, 50,000 teachers, and 35 lakh students across 400 towns and cities in India.

Mehta reflects on the company’s humble beginnings with 30 schools and sets a goal to exceed 10,000 schools by the 2025-26 academic year. The vision extends further: transforming learning for 25 million students across 60,000 schools by 2030.

In 2023, LEAD expanded into the high-fee school segment by acquiring London-based firm Pearson’s local K-12 learning business. In July 2023, the company also entered the low-fee school segment in India.

Earlier this year, LEAD appointed Arpit Jain as Chief Financial Officer and Arvind Singhal as Chief Growth Officer to strengthen its leadership team, with the goal of driving expansion into new regions through new school partnerships and enhancing growth within existing school networks.

“We are all excited about bringing this new future of learning to Indian schools and looking forward to seeing real learning improvements with this innovation,” observes Mehta.