As repressions by visa and diplomatic tensions block the traditional routes of study abroad, the leverage of India Edu is helping students redirect their dreams, from Canada to Germany, and from India to Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. That agility is paying off: the startup has doubled its income, has become profitable and is now expanding its global footprint.
In recent months, emerging market students have faced a growing uncertainty about the international admissions of the university. Changing the visa rules and diplomatic tensions, from the confrontation 2023-2024 between India and Canada to new strains in the ties of India-EE. UU. On rates and immigration policies, they have interrupted the deadlines and eligibility for thousands. Countries such as Canada and Australia have introduced more strict student visa policies, capturing many unveiled families. Even local consultants and local long -standing companies have fought to adapt. Meanwhile, leverage, the startup behind the study study platform on the EDU platform, has responded by helping students identify alternative destinations and quickly adjust, maintaining their plans on the way despite the interruption.
The eight-year-old startup responded quickly when India-Canada relations grouped, helping Indian students redirect to Germany and helping Canadian universities to recruit from Nigeria, effectively saving students’ pipes in both regions. Now it is applying the same play book in the middle of current strains between the United States.
Although the leverage continues to send students to the US, a growing part of that demand now comes from countries such as Brazil and Vietnam, where interest in American universities remains strong, said founder and CEO Akshay Chaturvedi in an interview.
That ability to change rapidly through geographies is now essential to take advantage of the leverage growth strategy. In the last two months, the startup has expanded to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Vietnam and Malaysia, emerging markets with a growing number of students seeking to study abroad but with limited access to the support of structured admissions. With this impulse, leverage now operates in 16 countries where students recruit, helping them apply to universities from 11 destination countries.
Beyond the applications, the startup, based in Noida, a technological center on the outskirts of New Delhi, is being positioned as a full service platform for international education, helping students plan, finance and administer their trips. Its tools include a mobile application, a courses search engine, an university uniconnect and a recently launched SAAS suite for global universities under the Univalley.AI brand.
The startup has also expanded to adjacent categories, with offerings such as MBBS leverage for medical applicants under EDU leverage, as well as fly finances for educational loans, housing for homes for students and other services under leverage and compass races.
The leverage now places more than 10,000 students annually, compared to around 1,500 only a few years ago. Much of that growth has occurred through organic demand, with 60% of students’ acquisitions that require zero cost of acquisition of customers, according to Chaturvedi.
“Our gap has been reduced with most of our global competitors who were large companies that quoted on the list or that had raised some of these mega rounds,” he told Techcrunch.
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Founder and CEO of leverage akshay chaturvediImage credits:Akshay Chaturvedi / Instagram
Financially, leverage has seen strong growth, and has become profitable for the first time this year, a rarity in the Edtech sector of India. The startup closed fiscal year 2025 with more than ₹ 1.8 billion (around $ 20 million) in revenue, doubleing ₹ 900 million of the previous year (approximately $ 10 million). Between April and September, the first half of fiscal year 2026, generated more than ₹ 2 billion (approximately $ 23 million), and is on the way to finish the fiscal year with ₹ 3.7- ₹ 3.8 billion (approximately $ 45 million) in revenue.
In the profitability front, the leverage obtained ₹ 120-130 million (approximately $ 1.4-1.5 million) in profits after taxes, and hopes to exceed the ₹ 250 million ($ 2.8 million) at the end of fiscal year 2026, marking a change of 256% of a total year loss of ₹ 800 million in fiscal year 2025.
The startup generates about 25% of its income from their platform businesses, which support students beyond admissions, with added value services that include loans, money remittances, housing and assistance to obtain internships or first works. The remaining 75% of the income comes from their main educational business: the students of placement and advice of the students. Among that, around 20% comes directly from students and 55% of universities in commissions, Chaturvedi told TechCrunch.
India remains the largest sources market in Apallce, which represents 58% of its total students. Within the country, the startup focuses on states such as Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Punjab, regions that constantly send a large number of students to universities abroad.
In terms of destinations, the United Kingdom remains the largest slight market, representing 52% of students’ locations, followed by Germany with 22%. Italy, its fastest growing market this summer, is also winning traction.
Currently, North America represents less than 5% of the total locations for leverage, reflecting the strictest visa rules and winds against diplomats in recent years. The startup expects this participation to grow as its presence expands in Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
With the increase in income and an expanding global footprint, the startup is now weighing a potential opi in India as soon as next year, and investment bankers have already made early releases, people familiar with the matter told Techcrunch.
The founder and CEO Chaturvedi did not denied the possibility of a public list, but said that the leverage would decide between following an opi or raising external capital after reaching the income milestone of $ 100 million, which the company expects to reach at some point in 2026.
Until now, leverage has raised less than $ 50 million in capital. The company operates in 27 countries through more than 50 offices and has a staff of around 800 people.
