'We raised at a peak, but sold at a fraction': Unacademy CEO on $3.44 bn-to-$200 mn UpGrad deal

Unacademy co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal on Tuesday acknowledged the sharp drop in the edtech company's value, saying it had "raised at a peak, but sold at a fraction of that".

Ronnie Screwvala-led UpGrad acquired Unacademy for just over $200 million. UpGrad completed the acquisition after months of on-and-off negotiations between the two companies. Unacademy had reached a peak valuation of $3.44 billion.

"Today, Unacademy has closed its acquisition by UpGrad for just over $200M. 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 wrote on X on Tuesday, confirming that the acquisition had closed.

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From Unicorn To Acquisition

Unacademy became a unicorn six years ago. Munjal said the company did not capture all the economic value of its mission to democratise education, but changed the way online education was delivered in India.

He said Unacademy's free platform helped create a generation of celebrity educators. Their YouTube videos crossed 10 billion views. Airlearn, another Unacademy business, became one of the three most-downloaded language-learning apps in the world in less than two years, Munjal said.

"We always wanted to build a global consumer product out of India. We did," he wrote.

Munjal said Unacademy had enough financial strength to continue operating independently. The company had a topline of around ₹400 crore, most of its businesses were profitable or near-profitable, and it had ₹900 crore in the bank.

"We had every option to keep going independently. Nobody was forcing this. But sometimes, you are drawn towards a path that is more exciting than the one that makes you more money," he said.

Why Unacademy Chose UpGrad

Munjal said the decision to sell was driven by the opportunity he saw in working with Screwvala and UpGrad. He said he had met Screwvala several times over the years and was impressed by what he had built in higher education and his vision for education in India and beyond.

"Sometimes, you are drawn towards a path that is more exciting than the one that makes you more money," Munjal wrote.

The company was also not under pressure to raise funds or find a buyer, he said. That allowed the two sides to take time to consider the combination. "The more we did, the clearer it got: this is a better path for the ecosystem, not just for us," he said.

Munjal said he expects Unacademy shareholders to create "immense value" from the merger.