UpGrad acquires Unacademy in $200M all-share deal
UpGrad has completed its acquisition of Unacademy in an all-share deal worth just over $200 million. The transaction is structured as a 100% share swap, with Unacademy investors receiving shares in UpGrad.
The acquisition closes at a price more than 90% below Unacademy’s 2021 peak valuation of $3.4 billion.
What Unacademy does
Unacademy is an online test-preparation platform covering competitive examinations including UPSC, JEE, NEET, and GATE. Videos by its educators have crossed 10 billion views on YouTube.
UpGrad’s existing business includes higher education, professional upskilling and overseas study programmes.
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Why it matters
Gaurav Munjal will stay on as Unacademy’s CEO. The Competition Commission of India cleared the deal on 7 July. Acquisition talks between the two companies began in November 2025 and ended in January after the companies failed to agree on Unacademy’s valuation. Discussions resumed in March, when a term sheet was announced for a 100% share-swap transaction.
“We raised at a peak, but sold at a fraction of that. I’m not going to dress these facts up,” Munjal said. He said Unacademy had a topline of around Rs 400 crore, with most of its businesses profitable or close to profitability, as well as about Rs 900 crore in the bank. He rejected the suggestion that financial pressure had forced the sale.
“Nobody was forcing this,” he said, adding that discussions with UpGrad co-founder Ronnie Screwvala had convinced him that combining the two companies offered a better path for the wider education ecosystem.
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