upGrad drops plans to acquire Unacademy following valuation differences

upGrad abandoned plans to acquire Unacademy after the two parties could not agree on a valuation, two people with knowledge of the development said.

Talks that were one of the biggest consolidation moves in India’s edtech sector have now officially collapsed.

“Yes, we are not moving forward due to valuation differences,” said Ronnie Screwvala, co-founder of Temasek-backed upGrad. Mint‘s query. “We were unable to reach a mutually acceptable valuation.”

money control He was the first to report the development on Thursday.

upGrad in November last year It has proposed a share swap deal that is expected to value Unacademy at $300-400 million, a big drop from its $3.4 billion valuation during the 2021 funding boom. Backed by SoftBank, Temasek, Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital and Peak XV Partners, Unacademy has raised approximately $880 million since its founding.

The deal includes entry into the test preparation space for upGrad and Unacademy’s ₹1,000-1,200 crore cash pile when capital remains scarce.

This isn’t the first time a deal has eluded Unacademy. Discussions to sell the company over the past two years, including talks with other edtech players, have failed as valuation expectations were not aligned with market reality.

Unacademy had been on the block for more than two years, with founders Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini exploring ways to spin off and run separately the fast-growing AI language learning vertical Airlearn, as the company pivoted to offline test prep after education tech’s post-pandemic slowdown.

upGrad’s IPO plan

This also comes as upGrad is preparing for an initial public offering in 2027. Mint In December, upGrad reported that it could: It raised $350-400 million in the IPO even while scanning the market for inorganic growth.

Unlike many of its peers, upGrad became operationally profitable and posted gross revenue. ₹1,650 crore in FY25.

Discussions took place alongside upGrad’s discussions of further acquisitions Byju’s select holdings amid a larger consolidation trend in an industry still reeling from the post-pandemic crash.