Lead School, an edtech unicorn, announced on Wednesday that it has raised Rs 160 crore ($20 million) in a debt funding round led by Alteria Capital and Stride Ventures. Standard Chartered Bank, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank also took part in the round.

The news comes on the same day that the company laid off nearly 60 more employees in its second round of layoffs in less than six months. The new capital will be used to fund the company’s organic and inorganic growth plans, according to a statement.

The new capital will be used to fund the company’s organic and inorganic growth plans, according to a statement. To save money, Lead laid off approximately 100 employees in August 2022. Even back then, the company blamed it on its annual performance appraisal process.

The company agreed to buy Pearson’s K-12 learning business in India last week. Lead’s reach now includes over 9000 schools as a result of this acquisition.

According to the audited annual financial results filed with the Registrar of Companies, the WestBridge-backed company’s revenue more than doubled to Rs 133.2 crore from Rs 57.1 crore.

Sumeet Yashpal Mehta and Smita Deorah founded the company in 2012, and it provides core schooling courses through its tech-integrated solutions. It recently agreed to buy Pearson’s local K-12 learning business in India, which will allow it to reach 9000 schools in the country.

Lead Westbridge, based in Mumbai, joined the unicorn club in January of last year after raising $100 million in a Series E funding round led by WestBridge Capital and GSV Ventures. Following the round, the company was valued at $1.1 billion.

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