From disrupting to departing: Why Unacademy’s founders are stepping away

At a buzzing Unacademy centre in Kota, Rajasthan, anxious teenagers flip through notes under sterile fluorescent lights. Rows of desks, chalk dust in the air, and a star faculty member taking centre stage—it’s a scene straight out of India’s time-tested coaching culture. But for those who tracked Unacademy’s early journey, it’s a jarring image.

This was the company that once promised to make coaching centres irrelevant.

Launched in 2015 as a YouTube channel, Unacademy set out to democratise test preparation by taking it online. Gaurav Munjal and his co-founders envisioned a future where quality education streamed directly to students, regardless of geography. By 2020, it was hosting over 1,000 live classes a day. This made it indispensable when the pandemic hit, offering over 20,000 free sessions and positioning itself as a digital education lifeline.

The model clicked. Investor interest surged. The company raised $880 million and, by mid-2021, was valued at $3.4 billion. The only edtech to dwarf it was the ill-fated Byju’s. But even with the shadow of Byju’s obscuring much of India’s edtech landscape, Unacademy was still seen as a pioneer that had cracked large-scale, live, online learning.