🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

The deal comes after very different financial paths

• upGrad entered the deal from a stronger position. It reached EBITDA positive in FY25, which means earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, and posted a 150 million rupees (US$1.58 million) profit after a 2.9 billion rupees (US$30 million) loss a year earlier 1.
• Unacademy came to the table after a long sale process. Earlier talks with Allen Career Institute, an Indian test-prep and coaching company, stalled, and a previous move with upGrad fell apart over valuation 2.
• Before the proposed sale, Unacademy had been reshaping its business by moving company-run offline centers to franchise partners 3.
• Even after its valuation fell from US$3.4 billion, Unacademy still adds more than US$100 million in cash reserves and Airlearn, an AI-led language learning product 4.

upGrad keeps widening its reach

• The purchase adds to upGrad’s recent stock-swap buy of Internshala, a job-search platform 2.
• It has also filed an expression of interest, an initial non-binding bid, for assets owned by insolvent rival Byju’s 2.
• With Gaurav Munjal staying on as CEO, the combined business is expected to keep several brands and use Unacademy’s position in test prep 4.
• Larger scale could raise pressure on mid-sized edtech firms and speed up more sales or exits as the sector moves toward profit 1.