The Competition Commission of India has approved upGrad’s proposed acquisition of Unacademy, clearing a major regulatory hurdle for a deal that has been years in the making. The CCI cleared the transaction under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002, covering upGrad’s acquisition of a stake in Sorting Hat Technologies Private Limited, Unacademy’s parent entity, and its subsequent merger into upGrad Education. A detailed order is expected to follow.
The all-stock deal values Unacademy at approximately ₹2,055 Cr, or roughly $218 million, a nearly 90% discount to the $3.4 billion valuation the edtech company commanded in 2021 at the peak of pandemic-era online learning demand. upGrad first signed a term sheet for the acquisition in March this year, after an earlier round of merger talks between the two companies had collapsed over valuation disagreements.
The regulatory clearance lands against a backdrop of upGrad’s own improving financial position. The company, led by co-founder and chairman Ronnie Screwvala, raised ₹361 Cr in May at a valuation of roughly $1.73 billion, with participation from existing backers Temasek, the International Finance Corporation and 360 ONE Opportunities Fund. upGrad has also turned the corner operationally, posting a provisional profit after tax of ₹38 Cr on revenue of ₹1,532 Cr over the first eleven months of FY26, against a loss of ₹273.7 Cr the previous fiscal year. The company expects Unacademy to add close to ₹500 Cr to its consolidated revenue once integration is complete.
Unacademy’s path to this point tells a familiar story for India’s post-pandemic edtech sector. Founded in 2015 by Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini, and Hemesh Singh, the company raised roughly $830 million from investors including Peak XV Partners, Blume Ventures, and Elevation Capital during its rapid ascent. As offline coaching resumed and investor appetite cooled, Unacademy exited parts of its offline operations, bought back ₹50 Cr worth of employee stock options, and pivoted toward a leaner, more capital-efficient model. Leadership also shifted this year, with Sumit Jain stepping down as full-time CEO and co-founder Munjal resuming direct operational oversight.
The deal extends upGrad’s acquisition-led growth strategy, which has included the purchase of internships and careers platform Internshala and more than half a dozen other companies since 2022. For India’s edtech sector broadly, the transaction is the latest signal that scale alone no longer guarantees survival, and that consolidation, rather than fresh funding, is increasingly how founders and investors are finding an exit path out of businesses built during the 2020-21 funding boom.
