In a rapidly evolving field of education and technology, Gaurav Munjal, the co-founder and former CEO of unacademy holds a strong, defining position. He didn’t just bless India with one of the most impactful startups in Indian education but empowered digital educators and content creators, enabled access to quality education for millions and also bridged the rural urban education divide.
The Beginnings : Youtube Channel
After earning his Btech in Computer Science from NMIMS University, Mumbai, Gaurav took his first steps into the startup world. He started working at Flatchat, a real estate communication platform that was later acquired by CommonFloor.
Gaurav Munjal started a YouTube channel called ‘Unacademy’ in 2010, with no big plans or massive investment. He simply wanted to make learning accessible for all and share knowledge for free. During the early stage, his content involved short, crisp tutorials that students can understand and relate to. Gaurav Munjal’s vision was to democratise information.
After gaining attention he decided to officially launch Unacademy as a startup, in 2015. Gaurav teamed up with Hemesh Singh (a tech wizard) and Roman Saini (an ex IAS officer and doctor). Their vision was to reshape the traditional coaching ecosystem in India, by making it affordable, high-quality, and accessible to everyone, regardless of their background.
Innovation In Edtech
At first, unacademy started by offering free educational content, but soon they realised they lacked a business model to scale and sustain their platform. With the target to change everything, they launched ‘Unacademy Plus’ in 2018, which is a subscription based service offering live classes, test series, structured courses and doubt – solving sessions.
And by 2019, the company managed to achieve an ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) of 30 million.
Noticing the potential growth, investors began to take interest and by 2021, Unacademy raised over 880 million in funding from renowned investors like General Atlantic, Tiger Global, Sequoia and Softbank. Cementing its place as one of India’s premier edtech unicorns, the company valuation reached 3.44 billion.
When it comes to what makes Unacademy distinct from other edtech ventures, anyone would highlight its focus on quality.
They provided test preparation and interactive learning experiences with India’s top educators.
Also Unacademy became a trusted name for millions of students preparing from competitive exams such as NEET, JEE, UPSC and SSC.
Its Expansion
To diversify its offerings and cater to a wider student base, Unacademy strategically acquired PrepLadder (for medical entrance coaching), CodeChef (for competitive programming), PrepLadder (for medical entrance coaching), Coursavy, TapChief and WiFiStudy (for educational verticals). But not all ventures turned out to be successful.
A K-12 focused startup named ‘Mastree’, acquired by Unacademy was shut down within a year because of its poor performance. This fallout resulted as a learning curve for Munjal and his team.
Read Also: Youngest Indian Entrepreneurs
Another bold move made by Unacademy was its entry into the offline space in 2022. The company established Unacademy centres in Delhi, Pune and Kota, offering hybrid learning models (which is a blend of physical classroom and online resources). Acknowledging that despite digital growth, Indian education still values face to face interactions.
Setback And Restructuring
The end of the pandemic brought a reality check for many edtech companies. The industry had to face financial turbulence as, after reopening of schools, valuations dropped and funding winter set in.
Reportedly, the company suffered a loss of 1,678 crore in Financial Year 2023, and its revenue dropped by 7% in FY2024 to 840 crore.
Having faced the loss, Munjal took the decisive step to cut costs, reduce cash burn and shut down non performing sectors. He shifted the focus from aggressive growth to sustainable growth, by bringing down its cash burn from 1000 crore annually to 200 crore in 2025.
As of now, the company had become default alive (meaning it could survive without external funding). Reportedly in 2025,nearly 70% of Unacademy’s offline classrooms are expected to attain profitability and streams like PrepLadder and Graphy have already started generating profits.
In 2025, Sumit Jain, founder of Graphy, was appointed as the new CEO of Unacademy after Gaurav Munjal stepped down from the position.
This was not the final chapter of his career, but the beginning of a new chapter. Gaurav Munjal with Roman Saini shifted the focus to a new venture AirLearn. It is an AI-powered language learning app which targets international markets with gamified, AI-driven learning models.
Munjal’s Philosophy
Gaurav Munjal is not just a Founder, he’s a writer, thinker and an active voice in India’s startup sector. His tweets and blogs are always blended with honesty and depth.
The viral bold statement ‘India is busy building bhujia companies while the world is building AI giants’ made by Gaurav Munjal sparked national conversations about India’s slow pace of growth in AI innovation.
He continues to inspire, innovate and disrupt. His journey from building India’s largest learning platform to now working on the global language learning space is all about his grit, vision and adaptability. Gaurav Munjal has assured India that he won’t stop and will keep pushing boundaries.
In this fast paced world, this visionary entrepreneur reminds us that real education is not just about learning, but about a blend of unlearning, relearning and building what matters most.
