SoftBank-backed Unacademy acquires game streaming platform Rheo TV

Unacademy will fully acquire Rheo TV and enable exit of all existing investors; deal value not disclosed

SoftBank-backed edtech firm Unacademy announced the acquisition of Rheo TV, a platform that helps professional game streamers livestream their gameplays and monetise those feeds. As part of the deal, Unacademy will fully acquire Rheo TV, and enable the exit of all existing investors. The company did not reveal the value of the transaction.

Existing investors Lightspeed India Partners, Sequoia Capital India’s Surge, AET Fund, Phanindra Sama, Founder and Former CEO of RedBus, and Mahesh Narayanan, Ex-Country Head of Google Mobile will exit fully.

Post acquisition, Rheo TV founders Saksham Keshri and Prakash Kumar will join Relevel — an Unacademy Group company that focuses on the Indian job market. The aim is to enable job-seekers to showcase their skills through tests, and secure employment at some of India’s top companies — as co-founders.

Rheo TV was set up in August 2019 by Saksham Keshri and Prakash Kumar to make professional game streaming a mainstream career option in India by building an entertainment ecosystem that drives engagement and monetisation. Within a year of launch, the platform amassed more than 5 million users and over 10,000 live streamers.