Ronnie Screwvala, the founder of India’s leading edtech firm upGrad, has reportedly placed a bid to acquire SoftBank-backed Unacademy at a valuation between $300 million and $400 million, according to MoneyControl. This marks a steep fall from Unacademy’s last publicly known valuation of $3.44 billion in 2021.
The acquisition, if finalized, will reportedly be a full share-swap deal, with no cash payment involved. upGrad aims to strengthen its balance sheet and boost revenue by around $100 million through the merger, as reported by YourStory. The company is also preparing to go public in the coming quarters, making this deal a strategic move ahead of its IPO.
If approved, the merger would become one of the largest in India’s edtech sector. The industry, which witnessed massive growth during the pandemic, has faced turbulence since 2022 as learners returned to traditional classrooms.
Meanwhile, Unacademy’s competitor PhysicsWallah, led by Alakh Pandey, is set to go public next week at a valuation of around $1.1 billion.
upGrad, valued at $2.25 billion after its 2024 funding round from Singapore’s Temasek, recently reported turning EBITDA positive in FY25, with operating revenue of ₹1,943 crore. In contrast, Unacademy’s revenue dropped from ₹1,044 crore in FY23 to ₹820 crore in FY25, though it managed to reduce its losses to ₹305 crore.
Founded in 2015 by Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, and Phalgun Komandur, upGrad has steadily expanded its footprint in higher education and professional learning, and this potential merger could further solidify its dominance in the edtech space.
