Unacademy shareholders will receive upGrad shares after an all-stock acquisition that values the edtech group at ₹19.55 billion (about $206 million), crystallising a roughly 94% drop from the company’s $3.44 billion peak in 2021.
upGrad co-founder and chairperson Ronnie Screwvala confirmed the valuation and said angel investors were paid out at closing, while remaining Unacademy shareholders took stock in upGrad. The transaction covers the entire Unacademy group, including PrepLadder, Graphy and the language-learning app Airlearn.
Unacademy co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal acknowledged the gap between the highs and the sale in a post on X, writing, "We raised at a peak, but sold at a fraction of that," and adding, "I'm not going to dress these facts up." He also noted the company entered the deal with about ₹9 billion (about $94.8 million) in the bank and annual revenue near ₹4 billion (around $42.13 million), and said most of its businesses were profitable or close to profitability.
The sale follows a period of heavy spending in 2020 and 2021, when Unacademy escalated marketing and hiring to compete with rivals such as Byju's amid pandemic-driven demand for online learning. As in much of the sector, demand fell once physical classes resumed; Unacademy trimmed costs, reduced staff and restructured operations, then steered most businesses back toward profitability.
Two sources familiar with the matter said Unacademy’s leadership concluded that reaching the scale required for a public listing would mean expanding into new education segments. Joining upGrad, which has developed a larger offline footprint, presented a path to that scale. Airlearn, a two-year-old platform that Unacademy says serves 10 million users across more than 150 countries, will remain part of upGrad for now. Screwvala wrote on X that upGrad was "very excited and positive" about the acquisition and highlighted Airlearn’s global traction.
Munjal will remain CEO of the Unacademy business and will lead its online operations and Airlearn under upGrad. No layoffs are planned, according to a person familiar with the transaction, and the Unacademy Group retains roughly 1,000 employees. The company raised about $880 million across 13 funding rounds, per Tracxn.
The deal marks another correction for India’s pandemic-era edtech boom, which produced sky-high private valuations and later sharp reversals. Byju's, once valued at $22 billion, fell into insolvency proceedings in 2024. For Unacademy, the immediate priority is integration with upGrad and deciding the next growth steps for Airlearn and other units; Munjal and Screwvala are expected to decide within about six months whether to build the business internally or seek external capital. Munjal had explored funding for Airlearn late last year and received term sheets, but paused those plans as talks with upGrad advanced.
