India’s Unacademy secures $110m round
Indian educational learning platform Unacademy has closed a $110 million funding round, bringing Facebook and General Atlantic on to its investor roster.
Existing backers Sequoia Capital India, Nexus Venture Partners, Steadview Capital, and Blume Ventures also took part in the funding round, according to a tweet by Unacademy co-founder Gaurav Munjal. Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy and Udaan co-founder Sujeet Kumar also contributed capital, according to a statement.
It brings the total capital raised by the company to $198 million, AVCJ Research's records show. Previously, Unacademy received $50 million in a Series D round last year. The latest capital injection comes as Vedantu, a live tutoring provider, and Byju’s, an educational video platform, received additional funding. General Atlantic is an investor in Byju’s as well.
Founded in 2015, Unacademy differs from its peers by targeting students taking competitive exams and employing tutors that have prior experience. It does not focus solely on producing pre-recorded educational videos like Byju’s or conduct tuition sessions for younger students like Vedantu. Last year, the company launched Unacademy Plus, a paid membership program that gives users priority access to classes held by tutors on the platform.
The new capital will go towards expanding the categories of exams covered and hiring more full-time teachers. There are also plans to offer classes in regional languages.
“Unacademy’s mission of enabling educators across disciplines to reach the widespread aspiring student community across the country is inspiring. Multilingual classes, practice tests, peer discussions and comprehensive coverage of over 30 exam categories is also leading to accelerated adoption of the company’s subscription plan, Unacademy Plus," said Shantanu Rastogi, a managing director at General Atlantic.
Currently, Unacademy offers classes for 32 competitive exams and claims that 70% of its userbase comprises students living outside metropolitan areas. The company says the platform sees more than 800 tutors conduct sessions on a daily basis.
Other education-focused start-ups offering live classes targeting students taking competitive exams include Toppr, Vidyakul and Aakash Educational.
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