Company:Unacademy

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Short description: Indian multinational educational technology company

Unacademy
TypePrivate
IndustryEdtech
Founded2015; 9 years ago (2015)
Founders
  • Gaurav Munjal
  • Hemesh Singh
  • Pravin Sharma
Headquarters
Bangalore, Karnataka
,
India
Area served
Worldwide
RevenueIncrease ₹907 crore (US$130 million) (FY23)[1]
Template:Positive decrease ₹−1,678 crore (US$−240 million) (FY23)[1]
Subsidiaries
  • WiFiStudy
  • Kreatryx
  • CodeChef
  • PrepLadder
  • Mastree
  • Coursavy
  • TapChief
  • Rheo TV
  • Swiflearn
  • Relevel
  • Graphy
Websiteunacademy.com

Unacademy is an Indian multinational educational technology company that provides online educational platform[2] with its headquarters in Bangalore. It prepares students for various competitive exams (like JEE, NEET, UPSC, Chartered Accountancy, GATE, UPSC NDA, CUET, Boards etc.), as well as provides content on foundational (K-12) and skill building courses (programming, photography, entrepreneurship, etc). It was founded by Gaurav Munjal, Hemesh Singh and Roman Saini in 2015. As of May 2022, Unacademy was valued at United States dollar 3.44 billion.[3]

Product and services

In February 2019, Unacademy launched its subscription-based model, Unacademy Plus. The Unacademy Plus Subscription provides students access to live courses by educators across the country in English and 14 Indian languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Bhojpuri etc.[citation needed]

In 2020, Unacademy launched Graphy, that helps creators launch their online school in under 60 seconds.[4] In May 2022, Unacademy opened its first offline learning centre in Kota, Rajasthan, followed up with other centers in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru etc.[5][6][7]

History

Unacademy started off as a YouTube channel created by Gaurav Munjal in 2015 when he was an engineering student in Mumbai .[8] Gaurav uploaded a short video tutorial on computer graphics on his YouTube channel to help his peers prepare for the semester exams. In December 2015, Gaurav Munjal roped in two of his friends, Hemesh Singh and Roman Saini, and launched Unacademy app to create free interactive content.[9][10][11]

By 2017, it had over 1 million learners, 5000 plus registered educators and over 40,000 classes launched. In January 2022, Unacademy became one of the founding members of IAMAI's India EdTech Consortium along with other edtech firms like Simplilearn, PrepInsta Prime, UpGrad, Byjus and Vedantu.[12]

Acquisitions

In 2018, Unacademy acquired WiFiStudy for $10 million, a Jaipur-based online exam preparation and learning platform founded by Dinesh Godara in 2013.[13] In March 2020 acquired Kreatryx, an online preparation platform for GATE and ESE. In the same year, Unacademy acquired CodeChef, an educational initiative for the programming community founded by Indian billionaire Bhavin Turakhia in 2009, PrepLadder, a postgraduate medical entrance exam preparation platform, in a cash and stock deal worth $50 million,[14] Mastree, and Coursavy, a Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) test preparation platform for 1000 crores[15]

Unacademy shut down the operations at Mastree after a year of acquisition.[16] In 2021 Unacademy acquired TapChief, Rheo TV and Swiflearn.[3]

Funding and valuation

In January 2017, it received Series A funding of $4.5 million from Blume Ventures and Nexus Venture Partners.

In 2019, Unacademy launched its subscription-based model, Unacademy Plus and reported an ARR of US$30 million.[17][18] In the same year, Unacademy secured nearly $87 million from investors, such as SAIF Partners, Sequoia Capital India, SAIF Partners, Steadview Capital, Nexus Ventures and Blume Ventures.[19][8] Unacademy was the second company in India to receive a direct investment from Facebook.[20]

In the year 2020, Unacademy achieved a unicorn status after closing a $150m investment round with SoftBank Vision Fund at a $1.5 billion valuation. In the same year, it was named as one of the official sponsors of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for year 2020–22.[15] In November 2020, it raised a Series - G funding from Tiger Global Management and Dragoneer Investment Group at a $2 billion valuation.[21]

In January 2021, Tiger Global, Dragoneer Investment Group, Steadview Capital and General Atlantic purchased $50 million-worth of shares from existing investors.[22] In August 2021, Unacademy raised $440 million in a Series H funding round led by Temasek, with participation from General Atlantic, Tiger Global, and SoftBank Vision Fund, Aroa Ventures, the family office of OYO Founder Ritesh Agarwal, and Deepinder Goyal, co-founder and CEO at Zomato.[3] In September 2021 it announced ESOPs (employee stock ownership plan) buyback programme worth $10.5 million for employees and teachers.

Activities

  • During the pandemic in 2020, Unacademy opened its platform to schools and colleges to conduct live classes for their students.[23]
  • In the same year, the company launched its Legends on Unacademy, an initiative to bring together known personalities from different walks of life such as sports, arts, business, leadership and conducts curated lessons on their subject of expertise and life lessons. Among the personalities who delivered live lectures are Brian Lara, Brett Lee, Jonty Rhodes, Virat Kohli, Sunil Gavaskar, Sourav Ganguly, former diplomat Shashi Tharoor, retired IPS Officer Kiran Bedi, Zev Siegl, Mary Kom, Randi Zuckerberg, Abhijit Banerjee, BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales and Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murthy.[24][25]
  • In May 2021, Unacademy launched Educate India, an initiative supported by Feeding India, that provided free 1-year subscriptions to 10,000 children.[26]
  • Unacademy has signed MoUs with various state governments including the governments of Karnataka, Odisha, Telangana, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and National Skill Development Corporation[27] to support meritorious students in these states to prepare for various competitive exams like K-12, IIT-JEE, NEET UG, and Defence exams[28]
  • In December 2021 Unacademy had launched their Shikshodaya initiative that aims to educate over 5,00,000 girl students across India.[29]

Criticism

In January 2020, Unacademy suffered a data leak by the hacker group ShinyHunters that led to the exposure of personal data of nearly 22 million users. The breach included user records of employees from Reliance Industries, TCS, HDFC, SBI, Infosys, Cognizant, Wipro, Accenture, Facebook and Google, among others.[30] The records appeared for sale on a dark web forum, with the seller asking for $2000. Unacademy officials later confirmed that nearly 11 million accounts were compromised, but nothing valuable was leaked or misused. Unacademy re-assured the fact that no sensitive information has been compromised in their official statement on the issue.[31][32]

In May 2021, it was criticized for posting questions in their Test Series that were religiously inclined and were claimed to be anti-national in nature. Learners complain that often their educators are removed from the system, leaving the syllabus mid-way. Recently,[when?] Unacademy was under scrutiny for laying off both educators as well as full-time employees.[33][34][35]

Brajesh Maheshwari who is the co-founder and director of Allen Career Institute threatened its teachers of leaving the institute and moving to the other offline coaching centres after Unacademy opened a coaching centre in Kota and had roped in several teachers from Allen.He also stated that Allen Career Institute will not accept the teacher back into the institute if they leave the institute in the first place to join other institute like Unacademy and Physicswallah[36] Unacademy also suspended contracts of educators to cut cost due to funding winter in July 2022.[37]

PrepLadder

In 2021, Sri Lankan company Medical Joyworks filed a suit in the Bombay Civil Court alleging that PrepLadder, a subsidiary of Unacademy, has plagiarized Medical Joyworks' Prognosis application and other property.[14] The court in its order on 20 September 2021 stated that "Unacademy cannot use its PrepLadder app, website and any other content until all proprietary information, know-how, and technology belonging to Medical Joyworks have been removed to the satisfaction of Medical Joyworks and an independent auditor."[38]

However, on 24 September 2021, the Bombay High Court stayed this judgement when the legal counsel appearing for PrepLadder alleged that the civil court's order was completely erroneous since the civil judge had passed it without jurisdiction.[39]

'Vote for educated' leaders controversy

On 17 August 2023 Unacademy fired Karan Sangwan, a teacher, after a video of him urging students to not vote for those who only focus on changing names, and to elect well-educated politicians, went viral on 14 August.[40] Roman Saini, Unacademy cofounder defended his removal by pointing that classroom is not a place to share personal opinions and views. He further noted that platform was forced to do so.[41][42][43] Reacting, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal questioned if it is a crime to ask people to vote for educated people. Prashant Kanojia remarked that a teacher was “punished for speaking the truth”. Supriya Shrinate wrote: “Sad to see such spineless and weak people run an education platform.”[43][41]

Awards and nominations

  • 2018: TechNode Global- Resilience Awards[44]
  • 2018: IAMAI- Startup of the Year[45]
  • 2020: Named among the GSV Global EdTech 50.[46]
  • 2021: Ranked first in the LinkedIn Top Startups List for India (2021)[47][48][49]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Unacademy’s FY23 revenue rises to ₹907 cr, loss shrinks" (in en). BusinessLine. 4 January 2024. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/unacademys-fy23-revenue-rises-to-907-cr-loss-shrinks/article67703644.ece. 
  2. ↑ "Unacademy launches offline classes to take on Byju's-owned Aakash Institute". https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/unacademy-launches-offline-classes-to-take-on-byjus-owned-aakash-institute/articleshow/91639300.cms. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Subramaniam, Nikhil (13 July 2022). "Unacademy's Downward Spiral: Product Fumbles & Failed Acquisitions Take Heavy Toll" (in en). https://inc42.com/features/unacademy-product-acquisition-blitz-downward-spiral/. 
  4. ↑ Majumdar, Debleena; Sharma, Disha. "From Unacademy's Graphy to Teachmint, how tech platforms are driving the teacher-creator economy". The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/prime/technology-and-startups/from-unacademys-graphy-to-teachmint-how-tech-platforms-are-driving-the-teacher-creator-economy/primearticleshow/85844790.cms. 
  5. ↑ Sen, Meghna (23 June 2022). "Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal bullish on edtech sector. Here' why" (in en). https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/edtech-here-to-stay-unacademy-ceo-gaurav-munjal-bullish-on-edtech-sector-11655999326769.html. 
  6. ↑ Abrar, Peerzada (28 June 2022). "Edtech firms build brick-and-mortar centres across India to woo students". Business Standard India. https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/edtech-firms-build-brick-and-mortar-centres-across-india-to-woo-students-122062801436_1.html. 
  7. ↑ Dilipkumar, Bhavya. "Edtech's post-Covid offline push continues with Unacademy Centres". The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/startups/edtechs-post-covid-offline-push-continues-with-unacademy-centres/articleshow/91640543.cms. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Singh, Rajiv (22 June 2022). "Unacademy's Gaurav Munjal Is Ready To Drink The Polyjuice Potion. Can Professor Snape Transfigure Into Professor McGonagall?" (in en). https://www.forbesindia.com/article/2022-edtech-special/unacademys-gaurav-munjal-is-ready-to-drink-the-polyjuice-potion-can-professor-snape-transfigure-into-professor-mcgonagall/77497/1. 
  9. ↑ Kashyap, Hemant (14 June 2022). "Allen Teachers Jump Ship To Unacademy; Will Students Follow?" (in en). https://inc42.com/buzz/teachers-row-allen-unacademy-learning-centres-kota/. 
  10. ↑ Dhamija, Anshul (6 February 2018). "Unacademy: A New (digital Education) Academy" (in en). https://www.forbesindia.com/article/30-under-30-2018/unacademy-a-new-(digital-education)-academy/49329/1. 
  11. ↑ "Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini, Hemesh Singh - India's Young & Brightest Entrepreneurs in 40 Under 40 2019 - Fortune India" (in en). https://www.fortuneindia.com/40under40/gaurav-munjal-roman-saini-hemesh-singh?year=2019. 
  12. ↑ Pushkarna, Akshit. "What's Wrong With India's Booming Edtech Industry" (in en). https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/431482. 
  13. ↑ Sarda, Pranit (17 February 2020). "Why YouTube Still Rules The Edtech Roost" (in en). https://www.forbesindia.com/article/edtech-special/why-youtube-still-rules-the-edtech-roost/57761/1. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Bombay HC stays order that barred Unacademy from using PrepLadder app". The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/startups/bombay-hc-stays-order-that-barred-unacademy-from-using-prepladder-app/articleshow/86475995.cms. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Edtech Unicorn Unacademy Acquires UPSC Test Prep Platform Coursavy" (in en). 25 September 2020. https://inc42.com/buzz/edtech-unicorn-unacademy-acquires-upsc-test-prep-platform-coursavy/. 
  16. ↑ "Unacademy shuts Mastree after a year of acquisition". The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/education/unacademy-shuts-mastree-after-a-year-of-acquisition/articleshow/85909207.cms. 
  17. ↑ Malik, Yuvraj (16 April 2019). "Unacademy: Helping people turn educators to millions of students". Business Standard India. https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/unacademy-helping-people-turn-educators-to-millions-of-students-119041600486_1.html. 
  18. ↑ "Unacademy eyes USD 300 mn recurring revenues in coming years". The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/education/unacademy-eyes-usd-300-mn-recurring-revenues-in-coming-years/articleshow/74194940.cms. 
  19. ↑ "Unacademy secures $11.5M funding led by Sequoia India & SAIF Partners". The Economic Times. 13 September 2017. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/startups/unacademy-secures-11-5m-funding-led-by-sequoia-india-saif-partners/articleshow/60498041.cms. 
  20. ↑ Vankipuram, Meera (24 February 2020). "Unacademy, Byju's success lifts fortunes of edtech start-ups" (in en). https://www.livemint.com/companies/start-ups/unacademy-byju-s-success-lifts-fortunes-of-edtech-start-ups-11582565410821.html. 
  21. ↑ "Unacademy valued at $2 billion in new financing by Tiger Global, Dragoneer". The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/funding/unacademy-raises-fresh-funding-from-tiger-global-dragoneer-investment/articleshow/79410810.cms?from=mdr. 
  22. ↑ Abrar, Peerzada (13 January 2021). "Tiger Global, others buy $50 mn shares from existing investors of Unacademy". Business Standard India. https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/tiger-global-others-buy-50-mn-shares-from-existing-investors-of-unacademy-121011301128_1.html. 
  23. ↑ Vankipuram, Meera (20 March 2020). "Covid-19 impact: Online learning companies see spike in number of students" (in en). https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/covid-19-impact-online-learning-companies-see-spike-in-number-of-students-11584724448197.html. 
  24. ↑ "Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma, Shashi Tharoor and Kiran Bedi to deliver live lectures on Unacademy". https://www.businessinsider.in/education/news/virat-kohli-anushka-sharma-shashi-tharoor-and-kiran-bedi-to-deliver-live-lectures-on-unacademy/articleshow/75175267.cms. 
  25. ↑ "'Legends on Unacademy' to be on Times Now, ET Now - Times of India" (in en). https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/legends-on-unacademy-to-be-on-times-now-et-now/articleshow/76699502.cms. 
  26. ↑ Thacker, Hency (28 May 2021). "Indian Entities Extending Support to COVID Orphans" (in en-GB). https://thecsrjournal.in/indians-entities-support-covid-orphans-csr/. 
  27. ↑ "NSDC partners with Relevel by Unacademy to provide employment opportunities" (in en). https://www.financialexpress.com/education-2/nsdc-partners-with-relevel-by-unacademy-to-provide-employment-opportunities/2504058/. 
  28. ↑ "Unacademy signs MoU with Himachal Pradesh Government, empowering aspirants for competitive exams" (in en). https://www.financialexpress.com/education-2/unacademy-signs-mou-with-hp-government-empowering-aspirants-for-competitive-exams/2434879/. 
  29. ↑ "This edtech company is aiming to teach 5 lakh girls, check details here" (in en). https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/story/-shikshodaya-an-initiative-launched-by-unacademy-aims-to-educate-five-lakh-girl-students-1884087-2021-12-04. 
  30. ↑ Chandrashekhar, Anandi. "Unacademy information on sale on the darkweb". The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/unacademy-information-on-sale-on-the-darkweb/articleshow/75609772.cms. 
  31. ↑ Abrams, Lawrence (6 May 2020). "Hacker sells 22 million Unacademy user records after data breach" (in en-us). https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hacker-sells-22-million-unacademy-user-records-after-data-breach/. 
  32. ↑ "11 million Unacademy user accounts were hacked in January — and they are now up for sale on Dark Web". https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/11-million-unacademy-user-accounts-are-up-for-sale-on-dark-web/articleshow/75595084.cms. 
  33. ↑ "Unacademy educator calls tribals stupid in lecture, firm regrets" (in en). 26 September 2021. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/unacademy-educator-calls-tribals-stupid-in-lecture-firm-regrets-7534742/. 
  34. ↑ "#ShameOnUnacademy trends on Twitter after the education app sponsors 'Anti-Hindu skit' that has left netizens fuming" (in en). https://www.freepressjournal.in/viral/shameonunacademy-trends-on-twitter-as-the-education-app-sponsors-anti-hindu-skit-that-has-left-netizens-fuming. 
  35. ↑ "Watch: Unacademy educator's racist comments against tribals spark outrage; here's what happened" (in en). https://www.freepressjournal.in/viral/watch-unacademy-educators-racist-comments-against-tribals-spark-outrage-heres-what-happened. 
  36. ↑ "'Sharafat ki Duniya Khatam', Says Allen Chief, Threatens Teachers Leaving Institute" (in en). 14 June 2022. https://www.news18.com/news/education-career/sharafat-ki-duniya-khatam-says-allen-chief-threatens-teachers-leaving-institute-5350537.html. 
  37. ↑ Jose, Teena (3 August 2022). "Edtech Unicorn Unacademy Suspends Contracts Of Educators To Cut Cost" (in en). https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/432647. 
  38. ↑ Mundhra, Laxitha (22 September 2021). "Edtech Startup Unacademy 'reviewing' Court Order Restraining It To Use PrepLadder In Plagiarism Row" (in en). https://inc42.com/buzz/edtech-startup-unacademy-reviewing-court-order-restraining-it-to-use-prepladder-in-plagiarism-row/. 
  39. ↑ "Bombay HC stays order that barred Unacademy from using PrepLadder app". The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/startups/bombay-hc-stays-order-that-barred-unacademy-from-using-prepladder-app/articleshow/86475995.cms. 
  40. ↑ Noor, Aliza (2023-08-18). "Unacademy Teacher Karan Sangwan Fired After He Urged Students to Vote for ‘Educated Leaders’" (in en). https://www.thequint.com/news/education/karan-sangwan-unacademy-educated-leaders-viral-video-controversy. 
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 "Unacademy sacks teacher who urged students to vote for ‘educated candidates’: ‘Classroom not a place to share personal views’" (in en). 2023-08-18. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/unacademy-sacks-teacher-vote-for-educated-candidates-viral-video-8897622/. 
  42. ↑ "Unacademy fires teacher who urged students to vote for ‘educated candidates’" (in en). 2023-08-18. https://www.livemint.com/news/unacademy-fires-teacher-who-urged-students-to-vote-for-educated-candidates-11692349056276.html. 
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 "Unacademy gets pulled up by politicians after sacking tutor over ‘vote for educated’ remark, issues clarification" (in en). 2023-08-18. https://www.financialexpress.com/education-2/unacademy-gets-pulled-up-by-politicians-after-sacking-tutor-over-vote-for-educated-remark-issues-clarification/3214436/. 
  44. ↑ TAN, Shi Hui (18 November 2020). "Announcing the winners for the ORIGIN Innovation Awards 2020" (in en-US). https://technode.global/2020/11/18/origin-innovation-awards-2020-winners/. 
  45. ↑ "Former Cricketer Virender Sehwag Awarded Social Media Person of the Year at 8th India Digital Awards" (in en-US). 20 January 2018. https://www.mediainfoline.com/awards/former-cricketer-virender-sehwag-awarded-social-media-person-year-8th-india-digital-awards. 
  46. ↑ "Global EdTech 50". https://gsv.ventures/global-edtech-50/. 
  47. ↑ "Unicorns Unacademy, Udaan, and CRED top start-ups where India wants to work now: LinkedIn report" (in en). 22 September 2021. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/unicorns-unacademy-udaan-and-cred-top-start-ups-where-india-wants-to-work-now-linkedin-report/article36604252.ece. 
  48. ↑ "Unacademy, Udaan, CRED Dominate Latest LinkedIn Top Startups India List" (in en). https://www.forbesindia.com/article/startups/unacademy-udaan-cred-dominate-latest-linkedin-top-startups-india-list/70569/1. 
  49. ↑ "LinkedIn top startups India list 2021: Unicorns Unacademy, Udaan, CRED are the companies in the list" (in en). https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/photos/business/linkedin-top-startups-india-list-2021-unicorns-unacademy-udaan-cred-are-the-companies-in-the-list-7497541.html. 

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