Unacademy co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal on Wednesday confirmed that the edtech firm is engaged in merger and acquisition (M&A) discussions, adding that the company would pursue a deal only if it results in a “win-win situation” and creates a stronger combined entity.
His comments, made in a detailed post on X as Unacademy marked 10 years since its formal launch, come amid reports that upGrad is in talks to acquire the company at a valuation of $300 million to $320 million. That figure is nearly 90% lower than Unacademy’s peak valuation of about $3.5 billion during the 2021 funding boom.
In his post, Munjal acknowledged that Unacademy may now be valued at less than $500 million. He said the previous obsession with valuation contributed to strategic missteps at the Bengaluru-based startup.
He also outlined how shifting learner behaviour, heightened competition and the company’s own choices reshaped the business over the past several years.
Munjal traced Unacademy’s origins to 2010, when he created a YouTube channel while in college to help friends with computer science concepts. The project grew when Roman Saini joined in 2014, and the duo scaled their channel into what became India’s top education YouTube destination, especially after Saini’s UPSC content gained millions of views.
The formal launch took place in December 2015, with the goal of building a tech-first education platform powered by high-quality educators and free content.
Between 2015 and 2019, Unacademy expanded primarily through organic growth, adding educators and attracting millions of learners without relying on performance marketing. The company positioned itself as a technology player operating in education, incorporating gamification features such as streaks and “knowledge hats”, which educators and students embraced.
A major inflection point came in 2019, when Unacademy launched its subscription product offering live classes for competitive exams.
Revenue rose sharply, scaling from zero in January 2019 to $1.8 million by September that year. By 2020, the company reached nearly one million paid subscribers, raised multiple funding rounds, and entered the unicorn club at a valuation of $1.5 billion. By 2021, it had raised more than $700 million across rounds.
Post-covid reversal and competitive pressure
The pandemic-driven surge did not last. Munjal said the company misread the endurance of Covid-era demand and expanded rapidly, burning significant capital to acquire market share. As learners returned to offline coaching in 2022 and competitors offered similar products at a fraction of the price, Unacademy began to lose market share and experienced its first phase of sustained degrowth.
He noted that the edtech market shifted towards lower-priced supplemental offerings, while Unacademy had become complacent about pricing and product innovation. The company also struggled with the transition from a pure online model to operating offline centres, an area where it had limited experience.
According to Munjal, the last three years were the most difficult period for the founders and the company. Internal pressures mounted as the team worked to reduce cash burn, manage investor expectations and arrest declining momentum.
“Monthly panic attacks were a normal thing,” he wrote, adding that the leadership team and mentors played a critical role in navigating the downturn.
Cost cuts, restructuring and a return to basics
Unacademy began a sharp restructuring in 2022, reducing annual burn from about Rs 1,400 crore to less than Rs 175 crore in 2025.
It cut costs, lowered subscription pricing, strengthened its YouTube presence and returned to its original playbook of building high-quality educational content and selling subscriptions.
For FY25, the SoftBank-backed firm reported Rs 826 crore in revenue and reduced net losses by 31 percent year-on-year to Rs 436 crore. Munjal said the company now has a leaner structure, a “decades-long runway” on the balance sheet and a clearer pathway to profitability.
“We might be worth less than $500 million today compared to $3.5 billion three years ago,” he said, adding that he no longer focuses on valuation but on product quality, unit economics and sustainable growth.
Confirming the company’s openness to strategic consolidation, Munjal said Unacademy will proceed with a merger or acquisition only if it strengthens the business. Media reports have indicated that upGrad is evaluating a potential acquisition, although neither company has disclosed details.
Despite the setbacks, Munjal said Unacademy remains a resilient platform with millions of active learners and over one billion YouTube views annually. He described 2025, not 2021, as the company’s “best year”, arguing that it represents a period of renewal after a turbulent phase.
“A few bad strategic calls set us back by a few years, but we are stronger than we ever were,” he wrote, adding that Unacademy continues to focus on its core mission of building accessible, high-quality educational products.
