Unacademy acquires UPSC test preparation startup Coursavy

Online learning firm Unacademy on September 24 said that it has acquired Coursavy, a platform for UPSC test preparation  for India’s civil services exams, for an undisclosed amount.

The acquisition comes on the heels of a large fundraise, where Unacademy raised $150 million led by Japan’s SoftBank. In the last few months, it has also acquired smaller startups such as Mastree, an online tutoring firm in the K12 space, and PrepLadder, a learning platform for medical entrance exam.

Unacademy says that Coursavy, founded by Vimal Rathore in January 2019. solves the challenge of a lack of discipline in learning -- the most cited roadblock to a learner’s success, and has replicated the personal guidance and engagement a student received in an offline setup, hence promoting a community learning environment.

Through Coursavy, students who completed over 70 percent of their daily targets have witnessed improved learning efficiency and outcomes.

Coursavy has live sessions that include daily doubt resolutions, core content classes, mentorship, study notes, evaluation and feedback. Currently, Coursavy has various experts teaching over 70,000 learners through their YouTube channel and platform.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam preparation has been one of Unacademy’s earliest focus areas and its co-founder Roman Saini is an Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer himself.

Unacademy was valued at $1.45 billion earlier this month when SoftBank invested, making it India’s second-biggest online learning startup by valuation.