Thursday, November 21

Unacademy Raises USD 110 mn Led by Facebook & Others

Online education platform Unacademy raises USD 110 million (about Rs 780 crore) in a funding round led by social media major Facebook and General Atlantic.

The funding round saw investment from fresh investors including Sequoia India, Nexus Venture Partners, Steadview Capital and Blume Ventures, Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy and Udaan co-founder Sujeet Kumar, according to a company statement.

‘We are seeing great learning outcomes through our subscription where learners can take live classes by these educators. We now have more than 90,000 active subscribers. We thank General Atlantic and Facebook who have joined us in this journey and our existing investors who continue to be a part of the journey by supporting us,’ Unacademy co-founder Gaurav Munjal said.

In addition to raising the funding, Unacademy also provided exits to some of the angel investors, the statement said.

‘With this investment in Unacademy, we are reinforcing our commitment to the Indian start-up ecosystem as well as investing in a company that is transforming learning in India. We love that the company is fundamentally democratising education and driving innovation in new learning models,’ Facebook India Vice President and Managing Director Ajit Mohan said.

Unacademy expects to earn annual recurring revenue of USD 250-300 million (around Rs 1,775 crore to Rs 2,130 crore) on the back of a rise in paid subscribers and expansion of its offerings.

The company offers test series, personalized feedback and one-on-one interactions with educators for various competitive examinations, including UPSC.

Currently, it has more than 20,000 registered educators and over 18 million learners. As of February 1, Unacademy Plus had hit USD 30 million ARR.

Generally, ARR refers to yearly value of a single subscription.

Munjal said that the company is planning to offer online coaching for state service examinations in Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and other states.