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UpGrad in talks to acquire Unacademy for $300-400M
07 Nov 2025

Edtech giant UpGrad is reportedly in talks to acquire its rival Unacademy.

The deal could value Unacademy at between $300 million and $400 million (₹2,800 crore-₹3,500 crore), Moneycontrol reported citing sources familiar with the matter.

If successful, this would be one of the biggest consolidation moves in India's edtech space this year.

Unacademy was valued at over $3 billion in 2021
Valuation decline

The potential valuation of Unacademy in the ongoing talks is a far cry from its last known valuation of $3.44 billion in 2021.

The drastic fall highlights the cooling off of India's pandemic-era edtech boom.

As part of the proposed transaction, Unacademy's language-learning app AirLearn will be spun out into a separate company while its core test-prep business and offline learning centers will be sold to UpGrad.

Unacademy's cash reserves make it an appealing acquisition target
Financial health

Unacademy has managed to reduce its cash burn from over ₹1,000 crore annually at its peak to around ₹100 crore now.

The company also boasts cash reserves of about ₹1,200 crore, making it a relatively stable and appealing acquisition target.

The talks come after reports that Unacademy's founders were planning to step back from day-to-day operations and spin off AirLearn as a standalone venture.

Changes in Unacademy's management structure
Leadership change

In September, co-founder Sumit Jain was appointed CEO of Unacademy's test-prep business, formalizing the company's shift to a new management structure.

Jain has been instrumental in leading its offline center expansion and profitability push.

Founded in 2015, Unacademy became one of India's top edtech unicorns during the pandemic with investors such as General Atlantic, SoftBank, and Temasek backing it.

Edtech consolidation wave continues
Business performance

For FY24, Unacademy reported ₹839 crore in revenue, down about 7% year-on-year. However, its net losses narrowed by 62% to ₹631 crore.

For UpGrad, the potential acquisition would be one of the biggest consolidation moves in India's edtech space this year.

The company has been actively scouting for acquisitions to expand its footprint across professional, degree, and test-prep segments.