Edtech unicorn LEAD has announced an ESOP liquidation plan of close to $3 million for its employees.
The announcement comes soon after LEAD’s Series E fundraise of $100 million led by WestBridge Capital. The company raised the latest round at a valuation of $1.1 billion, making it India’s first edtech unicorn in 2022.
The current ESOP liquidation plan is a significant opportunity given that LEAD’s valuation has doubled in the last nine months on the back of growth in its operating and financial metrics.
Founded by Sumeet Yashpal Mehta and Smita Deorah, the nine-year-old company provides integrated curriculum and technology solutions to private schools with books, workbooks, smart classes, teacher training, teacher manuals, ERPs, or Math-Science kits.
LEAD claims to have tied up with over 3,000 schools catering to more than 12 lakh students and has a presence in 400 cities in 20 States. The company further plans to provide affordable education to more than 25 million students with an annual revenue run-rate of $1 billion.
For the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2021, or FY21, LEAD reported operating revenues of Rs 57.1 crore [$8 million] as compared to Rs 28.6 crore [$3.8 million] earned during the previous fiscal. Along with the growth of scale, the company’s annual expenses also grew by 128% to Rs 186.6 crore [$25 million] in FY21 from Rs 66.4 crore [$9 million] in FY20.
