Allen Digital CEO Abha Maheshwari steps down after two-year stint

Abha Maheshwari, the former Meta executive brought in by Allen to spearhead its digital business, has stepped down as CEO after two years at the helm.

Maheshwari, who joined Allen Digital in 2022, said she is taking a short break before her next role.

“When I first joined, we were a small team of 15 to 20 working out of a WeWork, scrappy, ambitious, and committed to building something meaningful. Two years later, I leave behind a buzzing office filled with passionate people, bold ideas, and the same deep sense of purpose, now backed by a much larger and stronger team,” she wrote in a social media post announcing her exit.

Maheshwari joined Allen just months after the institute had signalled its most aggressive digital push yet. In April 2022, Allen Career Institute set up a wholly owned subsidiary, Allen Digital, with the stated aim of taking on India’s multi-billion-dollar edtech giants. The move came barely a month after Allen raised $600 million (about Rs 4,500 crore) from Bodhi Tree Systems, the investment vehicle of James Murdoch and former Disney Asia-Pacific chairman Uday Shankar, in one of the largest funding rounds in the Indian education sector.

At the time, Allen said the creation of Allen Digital was also a step towards taking its test-prep model beyond India’s borders, though it did not specify which geographies it would target. The announcement marked a strategic shift for the 35-year-old Kota-based coaching powerhouse, best known for its offline dominance in exams such as JEE and NEET, towards competing head-on with online-first rivals.

During her tenure, Allen Digital acquired AI-powered doubt-solving platform Doubtnut in a slump sale reportedly valued around $10 million, strengthening its technology capabilities. In December 2024, Allen was also reportedly in early-stage talks to acquire rival Unacademy at a cut-price valuation of around $800 million. However, Unacademy co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal publicly denied the claim.

"Together, we built a digital-first EdTech business anchored in learning outcomes. We launched transformative technology, scaled rapidly, and most importantly, made a real difference in the lives of students. From AI-powered learning to seamless offline–online integration, every step was guided by our vision to make education more accessible, deliver real learning outcomes, and truly empower students," Maheshwari wrote.

Allen’s FY24 results highlight the pressures facing India’s coaching sector, with revenue growth outpacing profit gains as competition intensifies and operating costs climb in the shift towards hybrid models. The education firm grew its revenue base to Rs 3,244.7 crore, a 42 percent year-on-year rise, on the back of strong offline enrolments and an expanding digital footprint.

Yet, the cost of keeping that momentum surged even faster. Higher salaries to attract and retain top faculty, rising marketing spends to defend market share against deep-pocketed rivals, and investments in technology integration compressed margins, pulling net profit down 44 percent to Rs 135.9 crore.

The company is yet to file its FY25 financials.