South Asia’s leading study abroad platform, Leap Scholar has announced its expansion into the Middle East region with the appointment of Zuhaib Khan as the VP for International Expansion.
The San Francisco headquartered company plans to invest $20 million over the next year to establish a team in the region to serve the end-to-end study abroad needs of students and parents.
The startup has raised over $75 million in venture capital from marquee investors including Sequoia Capital, Owl Ventures, Jungle Ventures, and Harvard Management Company among others.
Since its inception in 2019, Leap Scholar has built a growing community of over 1 Million study abroad aspirants.
“With its foray into the Middle East, Leap Scholar aims to enable and empower millennials in achieving their global education and professional goals,” the statement said.
The key offerings that students will be able to avail include study abroad counseling, test preparation for standardized exams like SAT, ACT, IELTS, TOEFL, Duolingo, GRE, GMAT, etc., university application, visa assistance, and networking opportunities once students have got an admit in universities abroad among others.
Zuhaib has over a decade of operating experience in building businesses across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East in the E-commerce, Ed-Tech, and Travel sectors.
In his last role, he was the CEO of the education vertical of Apeejay Stya group where he led the Group’s international expansion across 10+ countries. Before joining Apeejay, he was the Co-Founder of Shopatplaces, an e-commerce firm. His early career was in Investment Banking where he worked at JP Morgan and Casa Capital.
Zuhaib holds an MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University, and a B.Tech. from Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi and he is an active angel investor as well.
Commenting on his appointment and Leap Scholar’s expansion plans, Zuhaib Khan, VP, International Expansion said, “I’m honored to come on board and become a part of the vibrant team at Leap Scholar. It’s an exciting time for the organization as we look to expand our global footprint across markets. Choosing the right course and getting admission to the right university is a challenge for students and parents globally and we aim to be their trusted partners in this journey. Foraying into a key market like the MENA region will play a huge role in our endeavor and vision of democratizing access to international education across the world.”
Leap Scholar’s offerings will now be available to students from countries such as the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.
Commenting on Zuhaib’s appointment and expansion in the Middle East, Vaibhav Singh, Co-founder, Leap Scholar said, “We are thrilled to have Zuhaib on board. This is a major step in our journey as we move ahead full steam in 2022 to take the Leap Scholar platform global and help millions of students achieve their international education and career dreams. We are starting with the Middle East, and we plan to subsequently expand to South East Asia, South Asia, and North Africa.”