Unacademy
Unacademy, operated by Sorting Hat Technologies, is a Bangalore-based online learning platform offering live and recorded classes for competitive exam preparation (UPSC, JEE, NEET, CAT, banking, SSC, state PSCs) alongside K-12 and upskilling courses, and also runs PrepLadder, Graphy and the AirLearn language app. Launched as a YouTube channel in 2010 by Gaurav Munjal and incorporated in 2015 with Roman Saini and Hemesh Singh, it peaked at a $3.44B valuation in 2021 before the post-pandemic edtech reset brought layoffs and an offline pivot. On 1 September 2026 upGrad completed an all-stock acquisition valuing it at about $206M.
Acquired
Unacademy has been acquired
This company is no longer available on our private secondary market.
Overview
Company data and valuation marks are estimates and may be incomplete, stale, erroneous, or revised.
Founded
2015
Employees
1,001–5,000
Total Funding
$875.9M
12 rounds
Latest Valuation
$3.44B
Aug 1, 2021
Secondary Signals (Note: SetterVC does not verify the accuracy of these)
4 signalsCompleted all-stock acquisition by upGrad valuing Unacademy at ~$206M, down 94% from its $3.44B 2021 peak.
Closed-out distressed exit; no further primary or secondary liquidity expected at legacy marks.
upGrad deal implies ~90% valuation cut for Unacademy, from $3.44B (2021) to ~$218M (2026)
Marks peak-era secondary/liquidity expectations down sharply; any pre-existing bid/ask color is now stale
Co-founder Sumit Jain to step down as Unacademy test-prep CEO by 2026-06-30 ahead of upGrad merger
Signals continued leadership churn ahead of deal close; founding bench further thinned
Announced Rs50 crore ESOP buyback to give current and former employees a cash liquidity route
Employee cash exit offered despite valuation sitting well below last priced round
Funding
Funding data and valuation marks are estimates and may be incomplete, stale, erroneous, or revised.
Rounds in grey italics are unconfirmed.
Total raised $875.9M across 12 rounds
Last updated 09-05-2026
| Date | Round | Amount Raised | Valuation | Lead Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2025 | M&A talks / down-round TechCrunch | Not disclosed | $0.5B | Not named in rumor coverage |
| Aug 2021 | Series H TechCrunch | $440M | $3.44B | Temasek |
| Jan 13, 2021 | Secondary share purchase | $50M | — | Tiger Global |
Valuation Trajectory
Funding data and valuation marks are estimates and may be incomplete, stale, erroneous, or revised.
Entry · Series E
$510M
Feb 2020
Unacademy today
$3.4B
Aug 2021 · latest mark
Unacademy multiple
6.7x
valuation uplift since first round
Y-axis is logarithmic. Hollow dots = estimated valuations. Does not represent realized investor returns.
Leadership
Gaurav Munjal
Co-Founder & CEO
Sumit Jain
Co-Founder; CEO until 2026-06-30, now advisor
Roman Saini
Co-Founder
Hemesh Singh
Co-Founder (departed 2024)
Competitors
Competitor list is illustrative and may be incomplete, stale, or erroneous.
PhysicsWallah
Bootstrapped Indian edtech unicorn focused on affordable JEE/NEET test prep with a hybrid online-offline model; widely seen as Unacademy's most disruptive competitor.
BYJU'S
Bangalore-based edtech that built a K-12 and test-prep empire (incl. Aakash Educational Services) before facing severe insolvency proceedings and a collapse from its $22B peak valuation.
Vedantu
Live-class focused Indian edtech competing with Unacademy in K-12 and competitive exam tutoring with personalized one-on-one and group classes.
upGrad
Mumbai-based higher-education and upskilling platform and a long-standing rival that completed its all-share acquisition of Unacademy on 1 September 2026; it is now Unacademy's parent rather than a competitor.
Aakash Educational Services
Long-established Indian offline test-prep network (now BYJU'S-owned, with ongoing ownership disputes) competing for JEE/NEET coaching market share.
Embibe
Reliance-owned AI-driven personalized learning platform offering K-12 and test-prep content across Indian competitive exams.
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