Unacademy co-founders resign amid company reset, new CEO appointed
What's the story
Gaurav Munjal, the co-founder of edtech giant Unacademy, is stepping down as CEO.
Sumit Jain will take over the position as part of a major restructuring process at the Bengaluru-based firm.
The leadership change comes after a failed acquisition deal and an increased focus on AirLearn, its language learning app.
Fellow co-founder Roman Saini is also leaving his active role in the company.
Strategic shift
Unacademy's transition from online to offline
Munjal and Saini, along with Hemesh Singh who left the start-up in June 2024, co-founded Unacademy as a YouTube channel a decade ago.
The departure of these three founders comes after long internal discussions over Unacademy's future amid challenges in its online business.
The company is transitioning from its once-dominant online test prep model to an offline strategy focused on physical coaching centers.
Leadership transition
Sumit Jain's new role and Unacademy's board composition
Sumit Jain, the incoming CEO and a board member, joined Unacademy in 2020 when he sold his start-up Opentalk to the edtech company.
He had previously founded real estate listing portal Commonfloor and sold it to Quikr in 2016.
Unacademy's board comprises representatives from SoftBank, General Atlantic, Zeta founder Bhavin Turakhia and Udaan co-founder Sujeet Kumar apart from Munjal and Saini.
Future prospects
Munjal's exit and AirLearn's growth
The Unacademy board had been discussing Munjal's potential exit for over a year, as he was not keen on running an offline coaching center.
Both Munjal and Saini own a 3.4% stake in Unacademy, while Singh owns 2.2%.
The change comes as Munjal focuses more on AirLearn (previously Unacademy Languages), which is being developed as a standalone company with preliminary talks held with potential investors.
Financial outlook
Unacademy's financial performance and future plans
Unacademy has raised a total of $880 million in funding, with its last round being a $440 million investment led by Singapore's Temasek in August 2021.
The company started as a YouTube channel in 2015 after Munjal and Singh sold their earlier start-up Flatchat to Commonfloor.
Despite the challenges, Munjal said at a recent town hall that Unacademy had ₹1,200 crore ($140-150 million) cash in the bank.