Unacademy co-founders Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini are planning to exit operational roles within the next 2–3 months, multiple sources told Moneycontrol. The duo is currently in advanced discussions with the board and investors to spin off Airlearn, Unacademy’s language learning app, as a separate company.
Meanwhile, Graphy founder Sumit Jain, who was elevated to the partner position at Unacademy post the exit of co-founder Hemesh Singh last year, is expected to take over the offline business. New leadership is being finalised to run Unacademy’s core online operations.
Munjal, who has been contemplating stepping away since last year, is said to have formally communicated his intent to the board in March this year.
"The board asked him to first reduce the company’s burn, so he stayed on till now," said a person aware of the discussions. A succession plan has been drawn up, under which Sumit Jain (co-founder) will take over the offline business, while a new leadership team is being put in place for Unacademy’s online operations.
Jain had stepped in as partner after Hemesh Singh exited his role as Unacademy’s CTO and moved into an advisory position. He had joined the company in April 2020, co-founding Unacademy's SaaS platform for creators and educators, Graphy, and was later moved to the board post Singh's exit.
Looping in investors
Munjal and Saini are expected to leave Unacademy once the Airlearn spin-off structure is finalised.
The co-founder has proposed a structure to the board that would allow him to lead Airlearn independently. "There is over 90 percent alignment on the matter, with some final negotiations remaining around equity and structure," a source familiar with the talks said.
Munjal is also learnt to have offered existing Unacademy investors the right to invest in the new venture, once the spin-off is executed.
What comes next
Airlearn, meanwhile, is growing rapidly and is seen as Munjal's next big bet.
The language learning app, which competes with Duolingo, has recorded 70,000 daily active users and nearly 3 lakh monthly users, with 17,500 paid subscribers and a $2 million in annual recurring revenue, Munjal had said while sharing company's update last month on social media. The majority of its users are from the United States and UK, with Spanish and French being the most popular languages.
Meanwhile, Unacademy’s revenue fell 7.4 percent in FY24 to Rs 839 crore, with net losses narrowing significantly by 62.4 percent to Rs 631 crore. In the latest update, Unacademy claims to have reduced its cash burn in the core business from over Rs 1,000 crore annually three years ago to under Rs 200 crore this FY25.
The company currently has Rs 1,250 crore in the bank and is in a “default alive” state, as the co-founder termed earlier. He had added that some of Unacademy’s businesses, including Graphy and PrepLadder, are generating cash on a monthly basis.
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