Visa-hard performance blocks the Study-Buitenland dreams of students, so the Indian leverage that has been diverted Edu | Techcrunch

While visa crawddowns and diplomatic tensions are blocking traditional study-outdoor routes, India’s Leverage Edu Helps students turn their dreams – from Canada to Germany, and from India to Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. That agility is bearing fruit: the startup has doubled its income, has become profitable and is now expanding its worldwide footprint.

In recent months, students have confronted in emerging markets with a growing uncertainty about international admission to the college. Shift visa rules and diplomatic tensions – of the 2023-2024 Distance between India and Canada New Tribes in India-US tires over rates And immigration policy – have disturbed the timelines of the application and are eligible for thousands. Have introduced countries such as Canada and Australia Stricter policies for student visacatching many families overwhelmed. Even long-term local consultants and study outdoor farms have difficulty adapting. In the meantime, Lever -The Startup behind the study between the study and abroad Hefareaking Edu has responded by helping students identify alternative destinations and to adapt quickly, keep their plans on the right track despite the disruption.

The eight-year-old startup reacted quickly when the relations between India-Canada acidified, so that Indian students are dealing to Germany and Canadian universities help recruit Nigeria-effective saving student pipelines in both regions. It now fits the same Playbook in the midst of running US-India tribes.

Although Leverage continues to send students to the US, a growing part of that question now comes from countries such as Brazil and Vietnam – where interest in American universities remains strong, founder and CEO Akshay Chaturvedi in an interview.

That ability to quickly shift over geographies is now central to the growth strategy of Leverage. In the past two months, the startup has been extended to Saudi Aarabia, Egypt, Vietnam and Malaysia – emerging markets with a growing number of students who want to study abroad, but with limited access to structured admission support. With this push, Leverage is now active in 16 countries where it recruits students and helps them to register for universities in 11 destination countries.

In addition to applications, the startup headquarters in Noida, a tech hub on the outskirts of New Delhi-Zich itself, is a full-service platform for international education, helps students to plan, finance and manage their travels. The tools include a mobile app, an AI-driven course search engine, a university matchmaking tool called Uniconnect and a newly launched Saas suite for global universities under the Univalley.ai brand.

The startup has also been extended to adjacent categories, with offers such as Leverage MBBS for medical aspirants under leverage EDU, as well as flight finance for educational loans, flight homes for student housing and other services under lever career and compass.

Leverage now places more than 10,000 students every year, a few years ago of around 1500. Much of that growth has come because of the organic demand, with 60% of the acquisitions of students that require zero customer acquisition costs, according to Chaturvedi.

“Our gap is limited with most of our global competitors who were large listed companies or who had raised some of these Meger rounds,” he said Techcrunch.

Financially, Leverage has brought a sharp growth – and has become for the first time this year, a rarity in the Edtech sector of India. The startup closed the tax year 2025 with more than £ 1.8 billion (about $ 20 million) in income, doubled from the £ 900 million of the previous year (around $ 10 million). Between April and September, the first half of the tax year 2026 generated more than £ 2 billion (about $ 23 million) and it is on its way to terminate the tax year with a turnover of £ 3.7- £ 3.8 billion (about $ 45 million).

In the field of profitability, leverage achieved £ 120-130 million (about $ 1.4-1.5 million) in profit after tax, and expects to exceed £ 250 million ($ 2.8 million) by the end of the financial year.

The startup generates approximately 25% of its income from its platform companies, which support students outside of admission with services with added value, including loans, money transferments, housing and assistance in securing internships or first jobs. The remaining 75% of the income comes from the core education company – the placement and counseling of the students. Inside, about 20% comes directly from students and 55% of universities in committees, Chaturvedi told Techcrunch.

India remains the largest source market in Leverage, accounting for 58% of its total student base. Within the country, the startup focuses on states such as Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Punjab – regions that consistently send large numbers of students to universities abroad.

With regard to destinations, the UK remains the largest market in Leverage, accounting for 52% of the town places, followed by Germany with 22%. Italy-the fastest growing market this summer-win also grip.

North -America currently represents less than 5% of the total placements for leverage, as a result of tightened visa rules and diplomatic headwind in recent years. The startup expects this share to grow as its presence expands in Latin -America, Southeast -Asia and the Middle East.

India IPO in plans, probably before 2026

With increasing income and a growing global footprint, the startup already weighs a potential IPO in India next year, and investment bankers have already made early pitches, people who are familiar with the case told Techcrunch.

Founder and CEO Chaturvedi did not deny the possibility of a public list, but he said that the leverage would decide between the pursuit of an IPO or external capital after reaching the $ 100 million income mile post, which the company expects to reach somewhere in 2026.

So far, Leverage has collected less than $ 50 million in equity. The company is active in 27 countries through more than 50 offices and has a workforce of around 800 people.