Acquisition · Education & Skilling

UpGrad completes acquisition of edtech platform Unacademy

By Startup Enthusiast · 1 September 2026

What they do

Unacademy delivers digital test prep for competitive examinations including UPSC and IIT-JEE, while running creator and language learning tools

UpGrad acquired the business through an all-stock swap valued at roughly $200 million, giving Unacademy investors equity in the buyer

The transaction highlights deep consolidation across India's edtech space after pandemic-era highs gave way to sharp market adjustments

UpGrad concluded its purchase of Unacademy on September 1, 2026.
The takeover was executed as a 100% share-swap, distributing UpGrad stock to Unacademy equity owners.
The overall buyout price totaled slightly more than $200 million, equivalent to around Rs 1,955 crore.
Unacademy shareholders will hold an aggregate 10% to 11% interest across the merged organization.
Peak XV Partners managing director Shailendra Singh will occupy one board seat at UpGrad.
Unacademy co-founder Gaurav Munjal stays on to direct the Unacademy arm as chief executive.
Co-founder Roman Saini will shift into an advisory position after the buyout closes.

The final buyout price stands more than nine-tenths lower than Unacademy's record $3.44 billion benchmark from August 2021.
This takeover marks an important consolidation step in Indian edtech following high-profile collapses across the market.
Discussions between both firms spanned roughly 10 months after earlier price disagreements halted negotiations in January 2026.

Unacademy functions as an education platform serving over 10 crore registered learners.
The catalog spans 200-plus examinations across more than 60 test categories, delivered by 14,000-plus teachers.
Key units include medical prep app PrepLadder, creator platform Graphy, and language tool Airlearn.
All major divisions will preserve their separate operational identities under the combined enterprise.
Unacademy posted FY25 operating income of Rs 702 crore alongside a net loss of Rs 435 crore.
The business holds Rs 900 crore in bank deposits and reports profitability across most divisions.

Leadership aims to take the combined edtech corporation public through a future stock exchange listing.
The business will decide whether to raise outside funding for language learning arm Airlearn in coming months.

Peak XV Partners (existing) — Key institutional venture backer in Unacademy holding a board seat post-deal.
Temasek (existing) — Major institutional shareholder in both Unacademy and UpGrad.
SoftBank Vision Fund (existing) — Global tech fund holding an 11.8% stake in Unacademy.
Nexus Venture Partners (existing) — Early investor possessing a 14% stake in Unacademy.
UpGrad (buyer) — Higher education and upskilling firm that purchased Unacademy.