Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal steps down; Sumit Jain takes charge

Gaurav Munjal's exit comes as Unacademy pivots to offline coaching and ramps up AirLearn, with Sumit Jain set to lead the next phase of growth

Unacademy cofounder Gaurav Munjal is stepping down as CEO, with board member Sumit Jain set to take over, according to a report by The Economic Times. The leadership change comes amid broader organisational shifts, a failed acquisition deal, and a new focus on the company’s standalone language-learning platform, AirLearn.

 

Fellow cofounder Roman Saini is also exiting day-to-day operations, marking the end of an era for Unacademy’s founding trio. The third cofounder, Hemesh Singh, had already left in June 2024. The three had originally launched Unacademy as a YouTube channel nearly a decade ago.

 

Challenges in pivot to offline coaching

 

Unacademy has been gradually moving away from its online test prep roots towards a more capital-intensive offline coaching model. However, the transition has been complex, with India’s edtech sector grappling with a post-pandemic downturn. Munjal reportedly did not want to lead an offline coaching business, leading to a board-level consensus on his exit.

 

Sumit Jain to lead Unacademy’s next chapter

 

Incoming CEO Sumit Jain, who joined Unacademy in 2020 after it acquired his startup Opentalk, brings deep entrepreneurial experience. He previously founded real estate platform Commonfloor, which Quikr acquired in 2016.     

 

  Unacademy’s board includes high-profile names such as SoftBank and General Atlantic, Zeta’s Bhavin Turakhia, and Udaan cofounder Sujeet Kumar, alongside Munjal and Saini.

 

According to Tracxn, Munjal and Saini each hold 3.4 per cent of Unacademy, while Singh owns 2.2 per cent. Among institutional investors, Nexus Venture Partners and Peak XV Partners each hold nearly 14 per cent, with SoftBank at 12 per cent and General Atlantic at 11 per cent.

 

AirLearn emerges as new focus

 

Munjal’s departure comes as he shifts his focus to AirLearn, formerly Unacademy Languages. Positioned as a standalone entity and a competitor to Duolingo, AirLearn is reportedly exploring talks with investors and may see support from some Unacademy shareholders.     

 

  At a recent town hall, Munjal described AirLearn as Unacademy’s “fastest-growing product”, noting it had 70,000 daily active users and a $2 million annualised revenue run rate. He also said the company had cut its annual cash burn from over ₹1,000 crore to under ₹200 crore and still had ₹1,200 crore in reserves.

 

Failed acquisition and financial snapshot

 

The leadership shake-up comes as a potential acquisition deal with Kota-based Allen Career Institute fell through. Talks had valued Unacademy at around $800 million—down sharply from its $3.4 billion peak—but ultimately failed over valuation disagreements.

 

Unacademy has raised a total of $880 million, with its last funding round of $440 million in August 2021 led by Temasek and backed by Tiger Global, Mirae Asset, and Dragoneer.