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 2021 peak valuation.
The all-stock deal values Unacademy at ₹19.55 billion (about $206 million), upGrad’s co-founder and chairperson Ronnie Screwvala told TechCrunch. Unacademy shareholders are receiving upGrad shares as part of the transaction, while angel investors were cashed out at closing, Screwvala said.
On Monday, Unacademy co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal said in a post on X that the deal had closed, nearly six months after the transaction was first announced in March. The Bengaluru-based startup, backed by SoftBank, Tiger Global, General Atlantic, and other global investors, was valued at $3.44 billion at its peak in 2021.
“We raised at a peak, but sold at a fraction of that,” he wrote. “I’m not going to dress these facts up.”
The deal comes despite Unacademy having about ₹9 billion (about $94.8 million) in the bank and annual revenue of roughly ₹4 billion (around $42.13 million), Munjal wrote. He said most of the startup’s businesses were profitable or close to profitability, and said the company had the option to continue operating independently.
