Unacademy snaps up Aakash veteran Anurag Tiwari to head offline classes division

Unacademy has hired Aakash veteran Anurag Tiwari.

Unacademy has appointed Anurag Tiwari, a former top leader at Aakash Educational Services, as the National Academic Director for its physical classes division as the SoftBank-backed edtech unicorn aims to strengthen its offline presence amid a post-COVID decline in its core online business.

Tiwari, an educator with over 18 years of experience, was with Byju's-owned Aakash for more than 13 years, serving as its National Academic Director. The development comes at a time when Aakash is in the midst of a dispute between its parent Byju's and Davidson Kempner, who lent about $250 million linked to Aakash's shares.

"Unacademy's commitment to providing quality education and empowering learners resonates with my own principles as an educator and administrator in the field of education," said Tiwari.

At Aakash Educational, Tiwari led pedagogies, curriculum development, and educators learning management,  Unacademy said in a statement on August 11. At Unacademy, Tiwari will continue doing the same which will help the SoftBank-backed firm to enhance its offerings, the company said.

"Anurag will be responsible for overseeing pedagogy, academic operations, strategies and outcomes on a national level for Unacademy Centres for IIT JEE, NEET UG and Foundation," said Gaurav Munjal, co-founder and CEO of Unacademy.

"We are certain that his presence will further amplify our dedication to providing high-quality education to all learners and ensure we make a lasting impact on the educational landscape,” Munjal added.

Unacademy's move to strengthen its management for Unacademy Centers comes at a time when the SoftBank-backed edtech unicorn is doubling down on its offline forays, which it sees growing nearly 8 times in the calendar year 2023, while expecting a 15 percent decline in its core business. The company also sees offline contributing significantly to its consolidated revenues going forward.

Founded in 2015, Unacademy started as an online learning platform for test preparation. The company later grew to become one of the largest learning platforms in India. Earlier this year, Moneycontrol exclusively reported that the unicorn was exploring a merger with Aakash Educational Services.

Last year, it made forays into the offline segment by launching an institute in Kota, known as India's coaching hub. Unacademy spent nearly Rs 100 crore to aggressively poach 30 teachers in the town.

In FY22 (2021-22), Unacademy reported operating revenue of Rs 719 crore, an 80 percent jump from the previous year. But the company's losses also surged to nearly Rs 2,900 crore during the period. Since then, Unacademy has been looking to cut costs and has laid off close to 2,000 employees, which helped it in bringing down its monthly burn to under Rs 10 crore.

Unacademy has raised $877 million in funding to date and was last valued at $3.4 billion, when it raised $440 million from Temasek, General Atlantic, and others in August 2021.