upGrad to Acquire Unacademy in All Stock Deal
Deal signals consolidation in India’s edtech sector as upGrad expands its learning platform and Unacademy pivots toward AI driven products.
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Edtech firm upGrad has signed a term sheet to acquire rival Unacademy in an all stock deal, marking one of the biggest consolidation moves in India’s online education sector.
upGrad chairman and co founder Ronnie Screwvala said the acquisition would strengthen the company’s integrated learning model.
“We at upGrad have signed a term sheet to acquire Unacademy in an all-stock deal,” Screwvala said in a post on X.
Screwvala said the companies had agreed to include a penalty clause if the transaction fails to close. “We have also agreed to a break fee were we not close.”
He added that combining the two companies would strengthen upGrad’s long-term strategy. “The Whole is Bigger than the Sum of Parts is our firm belief.”
Under the proposed arrangement, Unacademy founder and chief executive Gaurav Munjal will remain Chief Executive Officer and continue building the company’s online education products.
Screwvala said Munjal would be “staying on” to build Unacademy and develop products for online learners. He added that the company disrupted the edtech sector once and with AI “they plan to do it again.”
If the deal is completed, Screwvala said, “upGrad’s integrated model with an expanded focus from K12 to forever learning will be on a strong trajectory.”
The development follows earlier negotiations between the companies that had stalled over valuation differences.
In January, Munjal said Unacademy would transfer its offline centres to franchise owners as part of an asset light strategy to refocus on online learning products.
In a separate post, Munjal said neither company would disclose valuation details until the transaction closes.
He said Unacademy has strengthened its finances and product focus ahead of the proposed deal. “Airlearn, our first global product, is gaining meaningful traction in the US, UK, Germany and Canada.”
Munjal said the company bought back ₹50 crore worth of employee shares, with participation from nearly 40% of former employees, and that its cash reserves exceed $100 million.
Reflecting on the company’s journey, he wrote: “Unacademy helped invent the Modern EdTech Playbook. Along the way, we lost some focus and market share, and the sector itself has not seen enough real product innovation in recent years.”
Munjal added that artificial intelligence could reshape education and create new opportunities to rethink digital learning products.
