Now Reading: Unacademy CEO Munjal moves to executive chairman, Kumar takes over
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Unacademy CEO Munjal moves to executive chairman, Kumar takes over
The Story in Brief
Unacademy co-founder Gaurav Munjal has moved from chief executive to executive chairman, handing the CEO role to chief business officer Akhilendra Kumar. Munjal announced the transition on X on Wednesday, 11 November, stating he would remain actively involved in daily operations and support upGrad’s proposed IPO. The change comes just over two months after Ronnie Screwvala-led upGrad completed its all-stock acquisition of Unacademy in September 2026, valuing the edtech firm at just over $200 million, a 94% drop from its peak valuation of about $3.4 billion in 2021.
Economic Times and CNBC-TV18 report that the leadership transition is earlier than expected under the original deal terms, which had envisaged Munjal continuing as CEO of Unacademy’s businesses within upGrad for at least two years. Kumar, who has been with Unacademy since January 2022 and most recently served as CBO, thanked Munjal and said his priorities would be improving learner outcomes and building a financially sustainable business. The acquisition gave upGrad entry into online test preparation for UPSC, JEE, NEET and GATE, and Unacademy’s brands, including PrepLadder, Graphy and Airlearn, have been retained. Entrackr adds that Unacademy had a topline of around Rs 400 crore and about Rs 900 crore in cash at the time of the deal.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The leadership change at Unacademy is reported almost identically across all six sources, with every outlet leading on Munjal’s X post, the appointment of Kumar, and Munjal’s continued operational role. The only significant variation is that Economic Times and CNBC-TV18 explicitly note the transition came ‘earlier than expected’ under the original deal terms, which had envisaged Munjal as CEO for at least two years, the other four sources omit that comparison entirely, simply stating that the change occurs ‘just over two months’ after the acquisition. This omission leaves readers without the one concrete benchmark, the two-year term, that makes the timing newsworthy. Entrackr adds the most granular financial data, including Unacademy’s stated revenue of around Rs 400 crore and cash reserves of about Rs 900 crore, and upGrad’s FY26 provisional profit of Rs 38.8 crore, details absent from the other reports.
Coverage: 6 sources, 6 neutral
Sources (6): ndtvprofit.com (neutral report), businesstoday.in (neutral report), entrackr.com (neutral report), economictimes.indiatimes.com (neutral report), cnbctv18.com (neutral report), inc42.com (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 6 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
Update, 11 November 2026: this story now draws on 6 sources.
