Unacademy has been sold! Once a billion-dollar company, how much did the deal cost?
upGrad has completed the acquisition of Unacademy. The deal was worth just over $200 million and was completed entirely through a share swap. In 2021, the valuation reached approximately $3.4 billion.
RJ Kesari News Desk: The deal was valued at just over $200 million, or approximately ₹2,000 crore. Significantly, the entire transaction involved no cash. The transaction was completed through a 100% share swap between the two companies.
Unacademy co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal announced the deal on Tuesday.
He stated clearly that Unacademy was sold at a price significantly lower than its highest valuation. However, he also said that he is proud of the company's team and the work done over the past few years.
Unicorn was made 6 years ago
According to Gaurav Munjal, Unacademy achieved unicorn status about six years ago. At that time, the company's valuation was rapidly increasing. In 2021, Unacademy's valuation reached approximately $3.4 billion.
However, circumstances in the edtech sector subsequently changed, and the company's valuation declined significantly.
Munjal stated in December last year that Unacademy's valuation had fallen below $500 million. The company has now been acquired for a value of just over $200 million. This means the company's current deal is significantly lower than its peak valuation.
The company was once profitable
Munjal stated that the company had a topline, or total business revenue, of approximately ₹400 crore. Furthermore, most of the company's businesses were either profitable or nearing profitability.
According to him, Unacademy also had approximately ₹900 crore in the bank. Therefore, the company had the option to continue its business independently.
He stated that this decision was not made under any pressure. Rather, he felt that aligning with upGrad could be a more promising and exciting path for the entire education sector.
There was a conversation earlier as well
Unacademy and upGrad had previously discussed this deal, but in January, the two companies failed to reach an agreement on valuation. Negotiations resumed. In March 2026, the two companies announced that they had signed a term sheet to merge Unacademy with upGrad.
The exact valuation of the deal was not made public at that time. Now, after the completion of the deal, its value has been revealed to be slightly over $200 million.
Ronnie Screwvala, co-founder and chairman of upGrad, also expressed his happiness over the deal. He believes that the coming together of the two companies could bring significant benefits to the education sector.
Unacademy started with YouTube
Unacademy began as a YouTube channel in 2010. It was then launched as an online learning platform in 2015.