Jungle Ventures leads Series B round in Leap

Leap, an overseas education-focused guidance and financing platform, has raised $17 million (around Rs 123 crore) in a Series B funding round, it said on Tuesday.

The round in the United States and India-based Leap has been led by Singapore-based Jungle Ventures, with participation from Sequoia Capital India and Owl Ventures, the company said in a statement.

Interestingly, the investment by Jungle Ventures also marks the firm’s first bet in the Indian ed-tech space, founding partner Amit Anand said.

This infusion comes after the company last March raised $5.5 million (around Rs 40 crore) in a round led by Sequoia Capital India. Other participants in that round included InCred’s Bhupinder Singh and Cred’s Kunal Shah.

Leap, operated by Leap Finance Inc, was set up in 2019 by Arnav Kumar and Vaibhav Singh. The company says it operates two platforms – Leap Finance and Leap Scholar. The former focuses on financing, while the latter operates in the educational guidance and counseling space.

The company is also looking to launch a credit card tailored to the needs of international students.

It will use the capital it has raised to expand its product portfolio, strengthen its team across business and technology verticals, expand to newer markets and aggressively grow its student communities.

“There is a clear need for a one-stop, global student mobility platform,” Owl Ventures managing director Amit Patel said.