In 2022, over 7.5 lakh students from India went abroad to pursue a post-secondary degree. Thanks to the country’s growing GDP, widespread aspiration to study abroad and global demand for young talent, the Telegraph forecasts this figure will reach 18 lakh by 2024.

For many Indian students, a global degree is a path to a better future. While India has many highly-regarded universities, such as the prestigious IIT and IIM networks, the application process is highly competitive and selective. At the same time, many students feel that an overseas experience, and exposure to new cultures and ideas, will help open more doors.

However, for many study abroad aspirants, the path to their dream is rocky at best. Exhaustive applications, visa paperwork, and financial aid procurement are just a few hurdles that students must overcome. Coupled with an endless barrage of opinions, considerations, and options, the information overload can be daunting even for the most adept students.

In 2017, Akshay Chaturvedi launched Leverage Edu –- a holistic study abroad platform that helps students with everything from university selection and applications, test preparation and counselling, to educational loans, visas and student accommodations. According to him, “Leverage Edu aims to fulfil the aspirations of millions of Indian students seeking global exposure & opportunities”. Currently, the business has over 350 counsellors who guide more than 2 lakh students every month, helping them craft a plan to achieve their dreams.

Akshay, who came up with the idea when he was in business school at ISB Hyderabad and incubated the company at Draper University’s entrepreneurship program, is on a mission to help every student realise their potential, regardless of their background or birthplace.

Akshay’s enthusiasm and passion are contagious and his entire team, right from the leadership to entry levels in the organisation, mirrors the same level of excitement too. Moreover, it was his knowledge of the category and long-term vision for Leverage Edu that made an impression on us. With strong leadership and a growing business in a category of massive opportunity, Leverage Edu has scaled rapidly. The company has counselled 2M+ students and helped over 25,000 enrol in over 650 universities across the UK, US, Australia, and Canada.

When we met Akshay in 2023, he had reached a point in his startup journey where he needed a strong brand to support his growing business. In a category as involved as education in India, building a brand is vital for establishing trust and credibility. It’s what allows businesses to diversify offerings and scale to new heights. To our delight, Akshay was an admirer of Spring’s work in the startup and EdTech ecosystems and was looking for a strategic brand partner to help define and scale his brand.

We at Spring Market Capital are thrilled to announce our investment in Leverage Edu’s Series C round, alongside strategic investors such as ETS, the owner of TOEFL in the US, and Shorelight, which has created a partner network of 1k+ US universities. We can’t think of anyone better than Akshay to enable the global citizens of tomorrow.