Unacademy Cofounders To Take A Backseat, Eye Spinoff For Duolingo Competitor
Munjal and Saini are currently working on a restructuring that would allow them to spin-off Airlearn as an independent entity.
Softbank-backed edtech firm Unacademy's remaining co-founders are taking a step back from active roles in the company, as the firm pivots to a more offline presence, people aware of the matter told NDTV Profit.
Chief Executive Gaurav Munjal is handing over his post to fellow board member Sumit Jain, after a year-long discussion with the board on the succession plan. Co-founder Roman Saini is also taking a back seat while Unacademy is shifting focus to an offline-first strategy, which is more cash guzzling than the company's original online model, the abovementioned people added.
Munjal and Saini are expected to retain their board seats, and are likely to work on the firm's online ventures, including language app AirLearn.
Economic Times was the first to report about Munjal and Saini's exit.
The Airlearn Spinoff
AirLearn is a learning offering by Unacademy which lets users learn foreign languages. In April, Munjal said that the app has nearly 3 lakh monthly active users. It competes in the same space as industry major Duolingo.
"Airlearn is the fastest growing Unacademy Group tech product with almost 70,000 daily active users and $2 million annual recurring revenue in the last 12 months. Truly global product built out of India," he announced on X.
Munjal and Saini are currently working on a restructuring that would allow them to spin-off Airlearn as an independent entity, the abovementioned people said. Airlearn is also expected to expand its offerings and presence, for which Munjal is said to be tapping Unacademy investors.
Unacademy is backed by investors like SoftBank, Tiger Global, Temasek and General Atlantic. It last raised $440 million in 2021, led by Temasek with participation from Mirae Asset Venture and other investors like the family offices of Oyo Founder Ritesh Agarwal, and Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal.
The fundraise valued the Unacademy Group at $3.44 billion.
Originally founded by Munjal, Saini and Hemesh Singh in 2015, Unacademy started out as a YouTube channel in 2010 and expanded into the wider test-prep segment which saw it compete directly with the likes of Byju's and PhysicsWallah.
Singh quit as the firm's chief technology officer in 2024, saying, "I have decided to move from an executive role to an advisory role."
Jain, who was elevated to co-founder in 2023, came in to Unacademy in 2020. Jain has been behind big ticket startups including social media app Opentalk, and real estate listing portal Commonfloor, which was sold to Quikr in 2016.
At Unacademy, Jain is the CEO of Graphy— the software-as-a-service platform for selling online courses, webinars and digital products.
NDTV Profit has reached out to Unacademy for comments on the story.
