The Rise and Fall of Unacademy’s Acquisition Strategy
By Suraj Bahadur – June 27, 2025
In the early 2020s, Unacademy stood as a shining beacon of India’s edtech boom. Backed by marquee investors such as SoftBank, General Atlantic, and Tiger Global, the company boasted a valuation that once exceeded $3.5 billion. But today, its story serves as a cautionary tale — of unchecked ambition, overfunding, and strategic misfires that have left a trail of failed acquisitions, demoralized employees, and a declining brand.
From Disruptor to Devourer
What began as a promising platform for democratizing online education quickly transformed into an acquisition engine. Flush with VC cash, Unacademy went on a spree, acquiring more than half a dozen companies in rapid succession between 2020 and 2022. Notable buys included:
- CodeChef – A popular coding competition platform
- PrepLadder – A postgraduate medical exam prep app
- Graphy – A platform for creators
- TapChief – A professional networking startup
- Swiflearn, Cohesive, and several others
Each acquisition was framed as a “strategic expansion.” In reality, insiders and analysts now describe a very different motive: market consolidation. By acquiring rising competitors, Unacademy systematically wiped out potential threats — a strategy reminiscent of Big Tech’s early moves in the West. But unlike the giants, Unacademy lacked the leadership depth and operational maturity to integrate and grow these firms.
The Cost of Overreach
Within months, cracks began to appear. Integration challenges, cultural mismatches, and financial inefficiencies rendered most acquisitions dead weight. CodeChef lost relevance, PrepLadder saw declining user trust, and TapChief was quietly dissolved. Today, nearly every company acquired by Unacademy is either:
- Loss-making
- Downsized
- Silently shut down
As revenues stagnated and burn rates rose, Unacademy was forced to pivot from "growth at all costs" to survival mode. Layoffs followed. So did executive exits.
ESOPs Turned to Dust
Among the worst-hit were employees and educators who had trusted the vision — and their futures — to the platform. Many had been granted ESOPs (Employee Stock Ownership Plans) during the high-valuation phase. But as company valuations plummeted and profitability remained elusive, these ESOPs have become virtually worthless.
“People joined Unacademy not just for salaries, but for long-term wealth,” said a former senior manager. “Now those dreams are gone. Founders are preparing for exits, and the people who built the business are left holding the bag.”
Leadership Under Fire
Much of the blame, critics argue, lies with Unacademy’s top leadership. Despite attracting global attention, the decision-making lacked financial prudence. Lavish spending on marketing, influencer-led strategies, and overpriced acquisitions showed poor capital allocation discipline.
The vision was grand, but the execution resembled a chaotic patchwork of vanity projects and reactive pivots.
A Case Study in Startup Darwinism
Unacademy’s story isn’t unique. Many VC-backed startups pursue aggressive growth via acquisition — a strategy that can work only if leadership matches ambition with operational excellence.
Unfortunately for Unacademy, its tale may soon be told in MBA classrooms as a textbook example of how not to scale. In trying to eliminate competition, it eliminated itself — fragment by fragment, acquisition by acquisition.
Final Thought
The edtech revolution in India needed sustainability, not supremacy. Unacademy chose to dominate before it could stabilize. The result? A company built on knowledge, undone by the lack of wisdom at the top.
