Unacademy co-founder Sumit Jain exits ahead of upGrad acquisition deal

India’s edtech sector is set for another major shake-up as Unacademy co-founder and test-prep CEO Sumit Jain prepares to leave the company ahead of its acquisition by upGrad.

In an internal email to employees, Unacademy cofounder Gaurav Munjal said Jain’s last working day in an executive role would be 30 June. Jain will remain associated with the company in an advisory capacity.

Jain joined Unacademy in 2020 after the acquisition of his startup Opentalk. Before that, he had co-founded property platform CommonFloor.

He later led Graphy, Unacademy’s software platform for creators and educators, before being elevated in 2025 to head the company’s core test preparation business.

Munjal credited Jain with building two of the group’s key businesses, Graphy and Unacademy’s offline coaching division.

“His acquisition of Spayee and then merging the same with Graphy and then scaling it was really needle moving for Unacademy Group,” Munjal wrote in the email.

He added that Jain had also helped make the offline business profitable through a sharper focus on unit economics and franchise-led expansion.

Jain’s departure comes as Ronnie Screwvala-led upGrad moves ahead with its planned acquisition of Unacademy in an all-stock deal valued at around Rs 2,055 crore ($218 million), according to media reports.

The transaction represents a steep decline from Unacademy’s peak valuation of $3.4 billion in 2021 during the pandemic-driven boom in online learning.

The SoftBank and Peak XV Partners-backed company is expected to retain a cash balance of Rs 900-950 crore once the deal is expected to close in June or July 2026, subject to regulatory clearance. The companies are currently seeking approval from the Competition Commission of India for the merger.

upGrad is also reportedly in discussions to raise about Rs 375 crore from existing investors, including Temasek, which holds stakes in both companies.

Unacademy has raised about $880 million (about 8,486 crore) from investors including Blume Ventures, Peak XV Partners and Elevation Capital. upGrad, meanwhile, has raised around $330 million and was last valued at $1.9 billion.

The acquisition marks one of the biggest consolidation moves in India’s edtech industry, which has struggled since the end of the Covid-era surge in demand for online learning.

The sector continues to grapple with the fallout from the collapse of BYJU’S, once India’s most valuable edtech startup with a valuation of $22 billion.