Leap Announces Major Offline Expansion Across India with 15 New Centers in 2026
Leap, recognized as South Asia's largest AI-powered study-abroad ecosystem, has unveiled a strategic initiative to significantly expand its offline presence in India. The company plans to open 15 new centers across the country in 2026, marking a substantial growth in its physical footprint. This expansion is designed to accelerate access in Tier I markets while also penetrating high-intent Tier II and Tier III cities, thereby broadening its geographic reach and service delivery.
Funding and Strategic Focus
The rollout of these new centers is backed by Leap's Series E funding momentum and robust business performance. Substantial investments are being directed towards new center buildouts, standardized training programs, and the implementation of secure, paper-light operational processes. By the end of 2026, Leap aims to add an additional 20 operational touchpoints, selected through data-led demand mapping and heat-mapped intent clusters where quality educational supply remains limited.
Target Locations and Dual Approach
Early locations for the new centers include key markets such as Hubli, Indore, Bhubaneswar, Patna, and Kolkata. This expansion also involves further growth in existing hubs, reflecting a dual strategy: achieving wider geographic coverage while ensuring deeper, integrated service delivery within each location. These offline spaces are meticulously designed to complement Leap's digital touchpoints, utilizing a unified system that profiles students' end-to-end journeys, ensuring transparency and seamless knowledge transfer between teams.
Leadership Insights on Quality and Governance
Arnav Kumar, Co-founder of Leap, emphasized the strategic nature of this expansion. "This expansion is strategic: we're scaling quality, not just footprint," he stated. "In a high-stakes category, speed without governance is noise. Our model connects online convenience with offline trust through one dashboard, so every counselling note, shortlist decision, document checklist, test-prep progress update, and visa milestone is visible, auditable, and continuous. That's how you deliver consistent outcomes at scale, city after city."
Kumar further explained the city selection process, noting it is driven by proprietary demand heat-mapping that identifies high-intent zones with limited quality supply. Every new center operates on Leap's unified student platform, ensuring that counsellors in cities like Patna or Mysore have access to the same intelligence, guardrails, and outcome data as those in major hubs like Bangalore or Mumbai. All in-center data is captured through secure, encrypted Leap portals, eliminating paper-heavy processes typical of traditional agencies and protecting student data with enterprise-grade security standards, similar to those used by Leap's fintech arm.
Comprehensive Services Offered
Students and families visiting Leap's centers can access an integrated suite of services, including:
- Free one-on-one admissions counselling covering over 1,500 global universities.
- Expert-led IELTS preparation with self-paced modules and live classes.
- End-to-end visa documentation and filing, supported by a 97% visa success rate.
- Real-time eligibility checks for collateral-free education loans.
Counselling precision is enhanced by insights from more than 3 million community members, while quality is governed through platform-led controls, counsellor certification, outcome KPIs such as Admit Efficiency and Visa Success Rates, and real-time Net Promoter Score feedback loops, contributing to Leap's impressive 70+ NPS.
About Leap
Founded in 2019, Leap has grown to become South Asia's largest AI-powered study-abroad ecosystem, assisting over 3 million students in turning global education dreams into borderless careers. Through its portfolio brands—LeapScholar, LeapFinance, GeeBee, and Yocket—the company delivers a fully connected journey. This includes AI-driven counselling to identify best-fit universities, smart visa and compliance workflows, and cross-border financing and banking products tailored for international students.
Headquartered in Bengaluru and operating across 11 countries, including recently added Singapore, Leap's proprietary guidance engine analyzes millions of data points to reduce application time, boost visa success rates, and unlock affordable funding. From test preparation to post-landing support, Leap combines deep human expertise with real-time intelligence, empowering every learner to study, live, and thrive abroad with confidence.
