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After months of negotiations and regulatory clearances, edtech major upGrad has completed its acquisition of Unacademy in a deal valued at just over $200 Mn. Unacademy cofounder Gaurav Munjal announced the closure of the transaction in a post on X today. “We raised at a peak, but sold at a fraction of that. I’m not going to dress these facts up. But I am proud of what this team did between those two numbers,” Munjal said. The final transaction value represents a decline of more than 94% from Unacademy’s peak valuation of $3.5 Bn in 2021. The startup has raised more than $830 Mn to date from investors such as SoftBank, Peak XV Partners, Elevation Capital, Blume Ventures, and Meta. The acquisition will give Ronnie Screwvala-led upGrad a foothold in the K-12 and competitive exam preparation segments. upGrad primarily operates in the higher education and professional upskilling space. The CCI approved the deal in July. upGrad cofounder and chairperson Ronnie Screwvala also confirmed the closure of the acquisition in a post on X. Screwvala said discussions about a possible combination first emerged in 2020, when Munjal approached him and upGrad cofounder Mayank Kumar. The talks did not progress at the time but were revived in late July 2025, when Munjal reached out again as Unacademy found itself at a “crossroads”. He said Unacademy would bring product- and tech-focused thinking, a strong consumer brand, and access to a different target audience to upGrad. Screwvala also highlighted the global potential of Unacademy’s language-learning platform Airlearn, saying its traction demonstrated the opportunity to build consumer education products in India for global markets. “I think there are some incredible strengths that Unacademy brings to what upGrad doesn’t have: the savviness, the product and tech-first thinking, the ability to look at a completely different target audience, the brand and the resilience that the team that created this,” Screwvala said. Unacademy Had Options: Munjal Munjal said Unacademy was not forced into the transaction because of a cash crunch. At the time of the acquisition, Unacademy had a topline of around ₹400 Cr and about ₹900 Cr in the bank, while most of its businesses were profitable or close to profitability, he claimed. “With a topline of around 400 Cr, most businesses profitable or near-profitable, and 900 Cr in the bank, we had every option to keep going independently. Nobody was forcing this,” Munjal said. Explaining the rationale behind the deal, he said working with Screwvala and joining upGrad offered a more compelling path for Unacademy than continuing independently. Munjal added that he expects Unacademy’s shareholders to create “immense value” from the merger. He also thanked the startup’s employees and said its two previous ESOP buybacks created value for them, even though its founders and investors did not generate significant returns in the transaction. How Unacademy Went From $3.5 Bn To $200 Mn Founded in 2015 by Munjal, Roman Saini, and Hemesh Singh, Unacademy began as a YouTube channel before expanding into an online learning platform focused on competitive examination preparation. Its free platform helped educators build large online audiences, with videos published by Unacademy educators collectively garnering more than 10 Bn views on YouTube, according to Munjal. He also highlighted that Airlearn is now one of the world’s top three most downloaded language-learning apps, within two years of its launch. Unacademy became a unicorn in September 2020 and touched its peak valuation of $3.5 Bn the following year amid the pandemic-led edtech funding boom. However, the reopening of offline educational institutions hit demand for online learning, prompting Unacademy to undertake multiple rounds of layoffs, reduce its cash burn, and shut or scale down several verticals. The startup subsequently held acquisition discussions with companies including Allen Career Institute, K-12 Techno Services, and upGrad. Its earlier talks with upGrad fell through over valuation differences before the two companies revived negotiations and signed a term sheet in March.
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