Unacademy, once among India’s most valuable edtech startups, has been acquired by rival upGrad in an all-stock deal that values the company at ₹19.55 billion (about $206 million) — roughly 94% below its $3.44 billion peak valuation in 2021. The transaction, first announced in March, closed this week, with Unacademy co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal confirming the news on X.
“We raised at a peak, but sold at a fraction of that,” Munjal wrote. “I’m not going to dress these facts up.” His candid acknowledgment underscores the dramatic reversal of fortune for India’s edtech sector, which boomed during pandemic lockdowns and then contracted sharply as physical classrooms reopened.
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A strategic exit despite financial stability
The sale comes even though Unacademy had about ₹9 billion (around $94.8 million) in the bank and annual revenue of roughly ₹4 billion (about $42.13 million) as of the deal’s close. Munjal said most of the startup’s businesses were profitable or close to profitability, and that the company had the option to continue operating independently.
“Nobody was forcing this,” he wrote. However, according to two sources familiar with the matter, Unacademy’s leadership concluded that achieving scale or an eventual public listing would require expanding into more areas of education — something upGrad, with its larger offline presence, could provide.
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Unacademy was founded in 2015 and spent heavily in 2020 and 2021 competing with rivals like Byju’s for students and educators. The startup raised about $880 million across 13 funding rounds, with backing from SoftBank, Tiger Global, General Atlantic, and others. After the edtech boom faded, Unacademy cut costs, laid off employees, and restructured parts of its business to return to profitability.
What the deal includes and what’s next
The acquisition covers the entire Unacademy Group, including PrepLadder and Graphy. The Unacademy brand will be retained, and Munjal will continue as CEO, focusing on online operations and Airlearn, the company’s language-learning app. Airlearn serves 10 million users across more than 150 countries and has been a bright spot for the company.
UpGrad’s co-founder and chairperson Ronnie Screwvala expressed optimism about Airlearn, saying, “To see a product coming out of India gaining traction globally is a great example of what is possible when the thinking, product and ambition are not limited by geography.”
In about six months, Munjal and Screwvala are expected to decide whether to continue building Airlearn internally or raise external capital for it. Munjal had explored external funding for Airlearn late last year and received term sheets, but abandoned those plans as talks with upGrad progressed.
No layoffs are planned as part of the deal, and Unacademy Group retains about 1,000 employees.
A broader edtech reckoning
The sale follows a sharp reversal for India’s edtech industry. Byju’s, once valued at $22 billion and the country’s most valuable startup, saw its valuation effectively fall to zero and entered insolvency proceedings in 2024. Unacademy’s acquisition at a fraction of its peak value is another sign of the sector’s contraction.
For upGrad, the deal consolidates its position in the competitive education market, adding Unacademy’s online reach and content library — which has amassed over 10 billion views on YouTube — to its offline offerings. The combined entity will face the challenge of proving that edtech can be sustainable beyond the pandemic-era boom.
As the edtech environment stabilizes, the focus shifts to how upGrad integrates Unacademy’s operations and whether Airlearn can achieve the global growth Screwvala envisions. The coming months will reveal whether this consolidation marks a turning point for the sector or simply a survival move in a tougher market.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. The edtech market is volatile, and valuations can change rapidly.
