LEAD School’s Loss More Than Halves To INR 143 Cr In FY24

Mumbai-based edtech startup Lead School trimmed its consolidated net loss by 55.58% to INR 142.98 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 321.95 Cr in the previous fiscal year, helped by growth in its top line and improvement in EBITDA margin.

Operating revenue jumped 28.31% to INR 350.54 Cr in the financial year ended March 31, 2024, from INR 273.19 Cr a year ago.

Founded in 2012 by Sumeet Mehta and Smita Deorah, LEAD School offers academic solutions, including devices and textbooks to its client schools. It also provides curriculum advisory and support devices to schools, pre-schools, parents and students. 

The edtech unicorn enables schools to combine technology, curriculum and pedagogy in an integrated teaching and learning system. LEAD School claims its integrated system is available to schools in over 400 towns and cities across India, reaching 5 Mn students and empowering 50K+ teachers.

The startup managed to narrow its EBITDA loss to INR 112.7 Cr in FY24 from an EBITDA loss of INR 308.2 Cr in the previous year. As a result, EBITDA margin improved to -32% during the year under review from -113% a year ago.

LEAD School generated a revenue of INR 276.10 Cr from the sale of products such as books, teaching aids and devices in FY24, whereas revenue from the sale of services stood at INR 74.43 Cr.

Including other income of INR 19.41 Cr, total revenue stood at INR 369.95 Cr during the year under review as compared to INR 295.51 Cr in FY23.

“The company has been investing in scaling up the business which is expected to result in losses for some time. Management is not reasonably certain about the year in which the company will make profits …” said LEAD School in a filing with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

According to Inc42 data, Lead School has raised north of $182 Mn in funding to date from marquee investors such as Elevar Equity, WestBridge Capital, GSV Ventures, among others.

Zooming Into Expenses

LEAD School’s overall expenses went down 16.93% to INR 512.94 Cr in the year ended March 2024 from INR 617.46 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

Employee Cost: The edtech startup spent INR 174.62 Cr towards employee benefits expenses during the year under review, down 38.82% from INR 285.44 Cr in FY23. It must be noted that LEAD School reduced its headcount by more than 160 in multiple rounds in FY23. 

Procurement Cost: Lead School spent INR 124 Cr for procurement of books, teaching aids and devices in FY24, an 8% decline from INR 134.8 Cr it spent a year ago.

Promotional & Publicity Expense: The spending under this expense head surged 40.78% to INR 34.52 Cr in FY24 from INR 24.52 Cr in the previous fiscal year.