Unacademy co-founder Gaurav Munjal will continue to lead the edtech company as Group CEO, ending months of speculation about a potential leadership transition at the SoftBank-backed test-prep firm, people familiar with the matter told Financial Express.
The development comes days after acquisition talks between Unacademy and Ronnie Screwvala-led upGrad fell through over valuation differences, with the two sides unable to agree on terms for what was intended to be an all-stock transaction valuing Unacademy at approximately $300 million. The deal, if it went through, would have represented an 90% markdown from the company’s peak valuation of $3.4 billion in 2021.
Previous Acquisition Attempts and Valuation Declines
The failed upGrad deal marks the second high-profile acquisition attempt for Unacademy in the last 14 months. In late 2024, the company was reportedly in advanced talks to be acquired by Kota-based Allen Career Institute at a valuation of approximately $800 million, but those negotiations also stalled over share-swap ratios and valuation disagreements.
Last month, during a town hall and a detailed post on X marking Unacademy’s 10th anniversary, Munjal publicly acknowledged the steep decline in the company’s worth, stating that the group was now likely valued at “less than $500 million”.
As part of the proposed upGrad deal, Munjal and co-founder Roman Saini were planning to exit operational roles. Since the deal has not gone through, both are now expected to remain at the company and continue running the business, sources added.
Munjal is now expected to focus on strengthening the company’s online businesses, with AirLearn, its language learning app, being a key priority area, they added. “The immediate focus will be on bringing back the company’s focus on online businesses,” sources said.
Growth and Profitability in Online Verticals
AirLearn has emerged as the fastest-growing business within the group. As of April last year, the app had already reached an Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) of approximately $2 million with roughly 70,000 daily active users (DAUs). By September, the platform reported completing over 10 million lessons within a single 30-day window.
Two of Unacademy’s online-focused verticals, Graphy (its creator platform) and PrepLadder (its medical entrance exam preparation business), are already profitable, sources added. Munjal had confirmed as early as April last year that both units were generating positive cash flow on a monthly basis.
Offline Business Performance and Cash Burn
On the offline front, the company currently operates 26 company-owned alongside 35 franchise coaching centres. “With offline, the focus has been to achieve profitability. About 90% of existing centres are profitable at the centre-level,” sources added.
Losses in both the online and offline test preparation segments have also come down significantly, they added. The company’s cash burn has reduced substantially from around Rs 1,400 crore in 2022 to approximately Rs 150 crore in 2025. The offline business currently accounts for approximately 80% of the current cash burn, sources added. Unacademy holds around Rs 1,070 crore in cash on its balance sheet, they said.
The Bengaluru-based company reported revenue of Rs 826 crore in FY25, down 16% from Rs 988 crore in FY24. Net losses narrowed to Rs 436 crore from Rs 631 crore in FY24, continuing a trend of improving unit economics after losses peaked at Rs 2,848 crore in FY22.
The company’s headcount stood at around 1,800 employees as of July 2025, a 30% year-on-year decline from the roughly 2,600 employees it held in 2024. The company has undertaken multiple performance-based workforce cuts in the past, as part of cost optimisation efforts.
Founded in 2015, Unacademy has raised over $880 million from investors including SoftBank, Temasek, General Atlantic, and Tiger Global.