As visa crackdowns and diplomatic tensions block conventional study-abroad routes, India’s Leverage Edu helps college students reroute their desires — from Canada to Germany, and from India to Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. That agility is paying off: The startup has doubled its income, turned worthwhile, and is now increasing its international footprint.
Over the previous a number of months, college students throughout rising markets have confronted rising uncertainty round worldwide school admissions. Shifting visa guidelines and diplomatic tensions — from the 2023-2024 standoff between India and Canada to new strains in India-U.S. ties over tariffs and immigration coverage — have disrupted software timelines and eligibility for 1000’s. Nations akin to Canada and Australia have launched stricter scholar visa insurance policies, catching many households off guard. Even long-standing native consultants and study-abroad corporations have struggled to adapt. In the meantime, Leverage — the startup behind the study-abroad platform Leverage Edu — has responded by serving to college students establish various locations and modify shortly, retaining their plans on observe regardless of the disruption.
The eight-year-old startup was fast to reply when India-Canada relations soured, serving to Indian college students reroute to Germany and helping Canadian universities in recruiting from Nigeria — successfully salvaging scholar pipelines in each areas. It’s now making use of that very same playbook amid ongoing U.S.-India strains.
Whereas Leverage continues to ship college students to the U.S., a rising share of that demand now comes from nations like Brazil and Vietnam — the place curiosity in U.S. universities stays sturdy, founder and CEO Akshay Chaturvedi stated in an interview.
That capability to shift shortly throughout geographies is now central to Leverage’s progress technique. Within the final two months, the startup has expanded into Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Vietnam, and Malaysia — rising markets with rising numbers of scholars looking for to check overseas however with restricted entry to structured admissions help. With this push, Leverage now operates in 16 nations the place it recruits college students, serving to them apply to universities throughout 11 vacation spot nations.
Past purposes, the startup — headquartered in Noida, a tech hub on the outskirts of New Delhi — is positioning itself as a full-service platform for worldwide training, serving to college students plan, finance, and handle their journeys. Its instruments embody a cellular app, an AI-powered course search engine, a college matchmaking software referred to as UniConnect, and a newly launched SaaS suite for international universities beneath the model Univalley.ai.
The startup has additionally expanded into adjoining classes, with choices like Leverage MBBS for medical aspirants beneath Leverage Edu, in addition to Fly Finance for training loans, Fly Properties for scholar housing, and different providers beneath Leverage Careers and Compass.
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Leverage now locations over 10,000 college students yearly, up from round 1,500 just some years in the past. A lot of that progress has come by natural demand, with 60% of scholar acquisitions requiring zero buyer acquisition price, based on Chaturvedi.
“Our hole has narrowed with most of our international opponents who had been both massive listed firms or who had raised a few of these mega rounds,” he informed TechCrunch.
Financially, Leverage has seen sharp progress — and turned worthwhile for the primary time this yr, a rarity in India’s edtech sector. The startup closed fiscal yr 2025 with over ₹1.8 billion (round $20 million) in income, doubling from the earlier yr’s ₹900 million (roughly $10 million). Between April and September, the primary half of fiscal yr 2026, it generated greater than ₹2 billion (roughly $23 million), and is on observe to finish the fiscal yr with ₹3.7-₹3.8 billion (about $45 million) in income.
On the profitability entrance, Leverage garnered ₹120-130 million (roughly $1.4-1.5 million) in revenue after tax, and expects to surpass ₹250 million ($2.8 million) by the tip of fiscal yr 2026 — marking a 256% turnaround from a full-year lack of ₹800 million in fiscal yr 2025.
The startup generates round 25% of its income from its platform companies, which help college students past admissions — with value-added providers together with loans, cash remittance, housing, and help with securing internships or first jobs. The remaining 75% of income comes from its core training enterprise — the coed placement and counseling providers. Inside that, about 20% comes instantly from college students and 55% from universities in commissions, Chaturvedi informed TechCrunch.
India stays Leverage’s largest supply market, accounting for 58% of its whole scholar base. Throughout the nation, the startup focuses on states like Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Punjab — areas that persistently ship massive numbers of scholars to universities overseas.
By way of locations, the U.Ok. stays Leverage’s largest market, accounting for 52% of scholar placements, adopted by Germany at 22%. Italy — its fastest-growing market this summer time — can be gaining traction.
North America presently represents lower than 5% of whole placements for Leverage, reflecting tightened visa guidelines and diplomatic headwinds in recent times. The startup expects this share to develop as its presence expands throughout Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Center East.
India IPO in plans, doubtless for 2026
With rising revenues and an increasing international footprint, the startup is now weighing a possible IPO in India as early as subsequent yr, and funding bankers have already made early pitches, folks conversant in the matter informed TechCrunch.
Founder and CEO Chaturvedi didn’t deny the potential of a public itemizing, however he stated Leverage would resolve between pursuing an IPO or elevating exterior capital after hitting the $100 million income milestone, which the corporate expects to achieve someday in 2026.
To this point, Leverage has raised lower than $50 million in fairness. The corporate operates throughout 27 nations by over 50 places of work and has a headcount of round 800 folks.
