With visa restrictions tightening all over the world, the classic study-abroad map is being redrawn in real time. India’s Leverage Edu is becoming something of a traffic controller amid the turbulence, diverting students away from congested routes like Canada and Australia and instead steering them toward destinations including Germany, Italy and newer hubs in the Middle East and Africa. That nimbleness is paying off as the company re-routes flows, salvages admissions cycles and opens up new pipelines for universities.
Why Conventional Study Gateways Are Now Failing
Authorities have acted fast to restrain the inflow surge. Canada imposed a countrywide cap on study permits and restricted eligibility for post-graduation work, according to the nation’s own Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Australia’s migration reset lifted English-language thresholds, placed more onus on a visa applicant in the form of the Genuine Student requirement and tightened scrutiny over high-risk cohorts, according to Australia’s Department of Home Affairs. Most dependants are blocked from joining taught master’s students in the U.K., and “we are reviewing post-study work routes,” according to the Home Office.
The numbers tell a story of harsher refusal rates, longer travel periods and surprise last-mile jolts for families. Indian students — the largest outbound cohort to many destinations now, according to the Institute of International Education and UNESCO data — have felt this whiplash perhaps most acutely; for them, their applications and the universities they apply to are preoccupied with which plan B countries must be in place so intake targets and academic timelines are saved.
A Playbook for Volatility in Global Admissions
Leverage Edu’s solution is speed and optionality. When the Canada pipeline soured, the company switched Indian applicants to Germany’s public and applied-science universities, and it assisted partner institutions in Canada in backfilling with students from Nigeria — ensuring they kept their admission seats filled despite policy headwinds. But it has replicated that model wherever frictions erupt, rebalancing demand between origins and destinations rather than sitting around waiting for policies to thaw.
The startup says demand for American programs is still strong, but a greater percentage now comes from Brazil and Vietnam, part of the firm’s shift out of India.
Simultaneously, Leverage has moved the needle with respect to its recruitment footprint in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Vietnam and Malaysia — high-aspire, low-quality counseling markets that have expanded its operating presence from 16 student source countries to an enhanced portfolio of 11 destinations.
New Student Corridors and Emerging Local Hubs
India continues to hold the key to the company’s volumes (58% of students), with steady demand from states like Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab and others. But the destination mix is changing: the U.K. takes 52% of placements, Germany 22%, and Italy has emerged as a fast riser. Today, under 5% go to North America — the result of tougher visa regimes and diplomatic headwinds the company is seeing there — though Leverage expects to take share as its Latin America, Southeast Asia and Middle East channels mature.
The pattern reflects a broader realignment. Public options in Germany with low or no tuition, clearer post-study pathways in parts of Europe and government-backed scholarships in Saudi Arabia are drawing away candidates who might have defaulted to Canada or Australia a year ago. For universities with unpredictable intakes, building multi-country funnels is less a nice-to-have stretch goal than a necessity for protection.
Beyond Admissions: A Full-Stack Bet on Services
Leverage presents itself as a full-suite platform across discovery, decision and settlement. Its mobile app and AI course search is built to surface fit by program, budget and visa outcome; UniConnect offers matchmaking and virtual fairs; while Univalley.ai, a SaaS suite for universities using AI, aids institutions in managing their recruitment workflow and agent networks. Complementary services — Fly Finance for education loans, Fly Homes for student housing and Leverage MBBS for medical pathways — are set to de-risk the journey end to end.
For students, the main appeal of the model is predictability. When countries adjust proof-of-funds rules, limit the number of dependants or tweak post-study work rights, applicants require immediate recalibration on finance, compliance and timelines. One platform that keeps choices and logistics up to date as policy changes is like narrowing weeks of uncertainty down to a few options.
The Numbers Behind the Pivot in Student Flows
Now the company places more than 10,000 students a year, up from around 1,500 a few years ago. A major driver is organic pull: 60% of new students enter with zero customer acquisition cost, the company says. Its revenue doubled year over year to over ₹1.8 billion and has already touched ₹2 billion in the first half of this fiscal, putting Leverage on track to reach anywhere between ₹3.7–₹3.8 billion by March 2020. And profitability has also followed, reaching ₹120–₹130 crore in profit after tax with a target above ₹250 crore by year-end — an anomaly in the edtech sector that is still recovering from a funding winter.
Operationally, Leverage has over 50 offices around the world in 27 countries with a staff of close to 800. Raised with under $50 million in equity, it intends to decide on new capital or a potential public listing after crossing the $100 million revenue threshold.
What Students And Universities Need To Watch
For candidates, the headline risk is policy inanity — caps, dependents and post-study work rights can change mid-cycle.
It is still imperative to verify accreditation, financial requirements and language thresholds at official sources like IRCC, the U.K. Home Office and Australia’s Department of Home Affairs. But other possibilities are real: Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia have good academic options and career prospects, but they also come with language and cultural factors that require advanced thinking.
The lesson for colleges and universities is diversification. It is a structural risk to rely on one country for half an intake, in the current climate. Platforms that can draw from India, Nigeria, Brazil, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf at once — and readjust when policies change — will make or break meeting enrollment targets instead of racing to meet them at the wire. In that remade landscape, Leverage Edu’s rerouting strategy seems less like a detour and more like the new default map.
