India’s Unacademy Acquired by Rival upGrad for $206M, a 94% Drop

Unacademy, once one of India’s most valuable edtech startups, has been acquired by rival upGrad at a valuation of just over $200 million—about 94% less than its peak valuation in 2021. The all-stock deal values Unacademy at ₹19.55 billion (approximately $206 million), according to Ronnie Screwvala, co-founder and chairperson of upGrad. Unacademy shareholders will receive upGrad shares, while angel investors were cashed out at closing, Screwvala told TechCrunch. On Monday, Unacademy co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal confirmed on X that the deal had closed, nearly six months after the transaction was first announced in March 2026. Bengaluru-based Unacademy, backed by SoftBank, Tiger Global, General Atlantic, and other global investors, had reached a peak valuation of $3.44 billion during a funding round in 2021. “We raised at a peak, but sold at a fraction of that,” Munjal wrote. “I’m not going to dress these facts up.” Despite the drop, he emphasized that the company was not in distress: Unacademy had around ₹9 billion (about $94.8 million) in cash reserves and annual revenue of roughly ₹4 billion (approximately $42.13 million). He added that most of the startup’s businesses were profitable or close to profitability, and that the company could have continued operating independently. Founded in 2015, Unacademy spent aggressively in 2020 and 2021 to compete with rivals like Byju’s for students and educators, as pandemic lockdowns drove a surge in online learning demand. However, when physical classes resumed and edtech demand plummeted, the startup was forced to cut costs, lay off employees, and restructure parts of its business. Over time, Unacademy managed to bring most operations to near profitability, Munjal noted. “Nobody was forcing this,” he wrote. Nonetheless, Unacademy’s leadership concluded that achieving the necessary scale for a public listing would require expanding into more areas of education, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Joining upGrad, which has a stronger presence in offline education, offered a strategic pathway to that goal, the sources told TechCrunch. As part of the deal, Unacademy’s language-learning app, Airlearn, was also included and will remain under upGrad for now. Screwvala expressed enthusiasm about the business, stating that upGrad was “very excited and positive” about its prospects. However, within about six months, Munjal and Screwvala are expected to decide whether to continue building Airlearn internally—a unit of approximately 25 people—or seek external capital for it, according to one source. Late last year, Munjal had explored raising external funding for Airlearn and even received term sheets from investors, but those plans were abandoned as talks with upGrad progressed. “To see a product coming out of India gaining traction globally is a great e,” he said, though the quote appears incomplete. This acquisition underscores the broader consolidation trend in India’s edtech sector, which has faced a severe downturn since the pandemic-era boom. For 2026, the deal signals a recalibration of valuations in the industry, as startups pivot toward sustainable growth and strategic mergers to survive a tighter funding environment.

via TechCrunch Startups