
11 February 2025
Bengaluru, 29 January 2025 – Leap, a leading global embedded finance platform enabling students to achieve their international education and career aspirations, today announced the successful completion of its Series E funding round. The latest investment marks a significant milestone in Leap’s mission to simplify and empower global education journeys.
The company has raised USD 65 Million in a mix of primary and secondary equity led by Apis Growth Markets Fund III and Apis Global Growth Fund III, for both of which Apis Partners Group (UK) Limited (“Apis Partners”) acts as portfolio manager. Existing investors Owl Ventures, Jungle Ventures and Peak XV Partners also participated in the Series E. Leap has raised over USD 200 Million in equity since it was founded in 2019.
Leap, which runs LeapScholar, LeapFinance, GeeBee and Yocket, is a full-stack international student mobility platform. The company runs the world’s largest online community of study abroad aspirants. Centered around the community, Leap offers an array of products to cover an international student’s lifecycle. These include international test prep like IELTS, TOEFL, SAT, etc., admissions and visa counselling as well as financial offerings like international student loans.
Vaibhav Singh, Co-Founder of Leap, said, “Students love Leap’s one stop approach to their international education needs. We have witnessed 5x growth since our Series D two years ago. Today Leap is not only the study abroad platform of choice in India, but is fast establishing itself as a global leader with scaling operations in 10+ countries. Building for the world from India is something we are very proud of. This investment from marquee investors further bolsters our ambitions and we are even more committed to our mission of democratizing access to quality global education.”
Commenting on the Company’s plans, “Having built the underlying infrastructure for global student mobility, Leap has now proven scale across multiple dimensions. We have launched many industry-first products and experiences to make the student journey seamless. Ensuring student success is why we exist and the AI revolution we are seeing today will allow us to continue to deepen our existing offerings at a faster pace than ever before,” said Arnav Kumar, Co-Founder, Leap.
Since its inception, Leap has grown exponentially, establishing itself as a trusted partner for students and institutions alike. The platform’s unique approach combines human expertise with AI-powered tools to offer personalized guidance and solutions. This has led to over 1 million students served and partnerships with 1000+ leading educational institutions globally.
Matteo Stefanel, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Apis Partners, commented, “We are thrilled to partner with Leap and to support its transformative approach to global education. Leap is using technology to not only help students find and access the right educational opportunities but also equip them with the tools to succeed. As such, we believe Leap’s mission aligns closely with Apis’ commitment to driving financial inclusion.”
Udayan Goyal, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Apis Partners, added, “Embedded finance is a key investment theme for Apis which has the ability to transform lives. We have been very impressed with the rate at which Leap has already scaled since inception, serving thousands of students across 10 countries. This new partnership offers Apis an exciting opportunity to support Leap as it further expands its reach and continues to make a difference to its target demographics.”
UK-based private equity asset manager Apis Partners specialises in growth-stage financial services and technology investments. The firm’s experienced investment team works closely with portfolio companies to enhance their value through strategic advice, operational improvements, and network-building. Apis Partners believes there should be no trade-off between providing top-tier financial returns for LPs and creating positive societal impact through the funds’ investments.
Amit Patel, Managing Director, Owl Ventures said, “Having funded close to $200m in student loans and secured partnerships with thousands of universities globally and counting, Leap is the de facto platform that students from around the world are relying on to help make their education study abroad dreams a reality. The pursuit of a global education is one of the biggest decisions students will make in their lifetime, and Leap has emerged as the trusted partner to provide comprehensive help as students navigate this incredibly complicated process.”
Yash Sankrityayan Managing Partner, SE Asia investments, Jungle Ventures said, “Leap has continued to scale profitably but more importantly, also expand regionally to prove that they are building for a global demand. Jungle Ventures is proud to invest behind the Leap team again and support them to continue to build the most trusted, end- to-end, global education access company.”
Avendus Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Leap and its shareholders on this transaction.
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About Leap
Founded in 2019, Leap which owns LeapScholar, LeapFinance, GeeBee and Yocket is South Asia’s largest study abroad platform offering end-to-end services for students pursuing international education and careers. Headquartered in Bangalore, with operations across 10 countries worldwide, Leap offers counselling services, visa services, education loans, and other modern financial products and solutions tailored for international students.
About Apis
The Apis Group (“Apis”) is an ESGI-native private equity and venture capital asset manager that supports growth-stage financial services and technology businesses globally by providing them with catalytic growth equity capital. Collectively Apis, through its team of around 40 professionals with deep industry expertise, manages or advises on total AUM of c.US$2.3 billion.
Headquartered in London, Apis has representation in seven countries globally. Apis is highly conscious of the impact that the provision of growth capital for financial services and technology businesses in global markets can achieve, and as such, financial inclusion and financial wellness are core tenets of Apis’ impact investment approach. https://apis.pe/
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