The edtech sector in India is still in the phase of major recalibration, with companies trying to strike a balance between aggressive growth and prolonged profitability. In a recent financial announcement, Leverage Edu, the most popular international student mobility platform, announced its consolidated financial performance in the fiscal year ending in March 2025 (FY25).

In this period, the company registered a revenue of ₹173 crore. This expansion was accompanied by a net loss of ₹106 crore, representing the capital intensity and high costs of operation to expand into a global full-stack service platform.

Revenue growth and geographical expansion

The FY25 revenue amount is a significant growth of the operating scale of the company in comparison with the past cycles. Leverage Edu has been able to diversify its revenue base through the provision of a broad range of services that transcend just normal counseling. 

These are Fly Finance, which offers education loans, and Fly Homes, which offers a solution to international accommodation for students. The incorporation of such allied services into the core business concept has helped the firm to grow its average revenue per user (ARPU) and enhanced its interaction with the students going through a complicated process of studying in a foreign country.

The geographical expansion has also been critical in the growth of revenues. Leverage Edu has also been aggressive in other markets other than India, like Nigeria and Nepal, and has recently indicated that it is looking to tap into markets in Southeast Asia, like Thailand. This global drive will be with the aim of fulfilling the increased needs of global education in the emerging economies, and this brand will be used as a transnational participant and not a nation-specific business.

Funding and decoding the operational costs

The ₹106 crore loss in FY25 illustrates the level of competition and high customer acquisition costs (CAC) being experienced in the edtech and study-abroad sector. To maintain the growth trend, the company has heavily invested in technological infrastructure and marketing.

Human capital is one of the key costs for a service-based platform. The firm has expanded its number of counselors and IT specialists to cope with the rising number of applications. It has invested high amounts of capital into the development of the AI-powered recommendation engines that pair students with the appropriate universities and courses.

The international education industry demands significant spending on online marketing and on the offline experience hubs as a way of establishing trust with students and parents. Although the loss is considerable, the company has noted that its EBITDA margins are high relative to FY24. This indicates that the absolute loss is high, but as a business, it is becoming more efficient on a unit level.

Leverage Edu has a robust team of investors such as Blume Ventures, DSG Consumer Partners, and the Educational Testing Service (ETS). The company has so far raised nearly $70 million in funds, and it has recently been valued at around $140-$150 million. This level of capital has enabled the company to remain aggressive in the market, unlike the present funding winter that is facing most of its competitors.

The recent Series C round, which was conducted by ETS, was especially strategic; this brought the platform in line with one of the largest private educational testing and assessment organizations in the world. This collaboration is likely to give Leverage Edu greater institutional connections and admission to a broader range of students who take standardized tests such as the TOEFL and GRE.

Conclusion

Leverage Edu FY25 results suggest that the company is in a high development stage of investment. Although the loss of ₹106 crores on ₹173 crore revenue indicates the burning process is still going on, the emphasis on creating a multi-service ecosystem, including finance and housing, is a sign of an environmentally sustainable long-term business model.

With the brand continuing to increase its presence across the globe and rolling out more experience stores, the task will be to move out of top-line growth and shift to bottom-line stability. In the meantime, Leverage Edu is in control of the Indian study-abroad market, with its full-stack strategy ultimately paying off in terms of scale to become profitable.