EuroKids Preschools Kangaroo Kids International Preschools Billabong High International Schools EuroSchool International Centre Point Schools Nagpur Mother's Pet Kindergarten
Lighthouse Learning (formerly known as EuroKids International Group) is a group of private educational institutions in India which runs a chain of schools and pre-schools with EuroKids, Kangaroo Kids, EuroSchool, Billabong High International School and Centre Point Group of Schools.[1] It runs 1,200 pre-schools and 44 K-12 schools in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and the Middle East.[2] It was founded in 2001. A variety of private equity firms including KKR, Partners Group have had or have stake in the company.[1]
The company was founded as EuroKids International in 2001 by Prajodh Rajan and Vikas Phadnis. It entered the K12 segment with a series of EuroSchools in 2009.[3]
In 2013, its 50% stake was acquired by Gaja Capital along with its Swiss investor Partners Group,[4] later increasing their shareholding in the company to 75% as the company acquired Kangaroo Kids and Billabong International High Schools franchises in 2017 to expand its business.[1][5] In November 2019, its 90% stake was acquired by US-based Private equity firm KKR for ₹1,475 crore (US$177 million),[6] making it one of the largest foreign investments in India's educational sector.[7] The company was renamed Lighthouse Learning from EuroKids Group in 2021.[8]
The company has appointed Ibibo founder Ashish Kashyap,[9] educationist Indu Shahani[10] and Retailers Association of India chairman Bijou Kurien[11] to its board in 2021. In May 2021, it acquired Nagpur-based Centre Point Group of Schools (CPS). However, the company did not disclose the extent of dilution in holdings of the CPS Group.[2] In September 2021, the company launched its first edition of Educator's Impact Awards on Teacher's Day.[12]
The company owns and operates preschool brands like EuroKids Preschool, Kangaroo Kids Pre-schools, Mother's Pet and K12 schools - EuroSchool International, Billabong High International School,[5] Centre Point School in Nagpur serving more than 1,50,000 students[13][6] Kangaroo Kids has a network of 110 pre-schools, while Billabong High International School has a network of 35 schools, as of 2020.[7] Billabong High International Schools, which offers the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) boards, from pre-school through Grade 12, has its presence in Qatar, Dubai, Maldives and Saudi Arabia. The group operates and manages its own pre-schools and schools and also operates through the franchise model across India.[5][7]
In January 2020, the company was awarded the Best Online Children's Learning Award at the Education Innovation Awards under a pre-school category by Entrepreneur India and Franchise India.[14]
It was named the Most Trusted Brand in the education category as per the TRA's Brand Trust Report 2020.[15]
It was named Education Company of the Year by the VCCircle in 2020.[16]
It won the Leading Preschool Chain (National)' and 'Innovation in Curriculum in Early Childhood Development' Award at World Education Award 2019.[17]
The company was awarded as the 'Best Education Brand of 2018: Pre-School & Nursery Category' by The Economic Times. The award was bestowed by Maharshtra's Minister of Education, Vinod Tawde.[18]
The company was awarded the 'Pre-School Franchisor of The Year' in the Business World Education's 'Top Education Brands In India' list 2017.[19]
In 2016, it won the Indian Education Awards 2016 under the category Innovation in Early Learning at the Indian Education Congress Awards 2016.[20]