Unacademy cofounder Sumit Jain steps down ahead of proposed merger with upGrad

Unacademy’s cofounder and test-prep business head Sumit Jain is stepping away from his operational responsibilities ahead of the company’s proposed merger with upGrad.

The news was announced through a LinkedIn post by Jain and Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal. He credited Jain for playing a significant role in building creator platform Graphy and helping turn the company’s offline business profitable.

“Sumit joined us as co-founder in 2020 and since then helped us build Graphy and make Offline profitable,” Munjal wrote in his post. Jain, responding to the message, described the last six years as “something I would never trade for anything else.”

Jain became part of Unacademy following the acquisition of his startup OpenTalk and later spearheaded Graphy, the company’s creator-focused SaaS platform. In 2023, he was elevated to partner status, which Munjal had described at the time as being equivalent to a cofounder position. Last year, Jain also took charge as CEO of Unacademy’s core test-preparation business during a broader leadership restructuring within the company.

His exit comes at a critical juncture for Unacademy as the company continues to restructure operations amid the prolonged slowdown in India’s edtech sector. The firm is currently moving toward a merger with Ronnie Screwvala-led upGrad through an all-stock transaction that has reportedly already been submitted to the Competition Commission of India for approval.

His departure comes at a crucial time for Unacademy, which has been restructuring operations amid a prolonged slowdown in India’s edtech market. The company is currently moving towards an acquisition by Ronnie Screwvala-led upGrad in an all-stock transaction that has already reached the Competition Commission of India for approval, according to multiple reports.

Once among India’s most valuable startups with a peak valuation of $3.4 billion during the pandemic-era edtech boom, Unacademy has in recent years narrowed losses, cut costs and sharpened focus on profitability and offline expansion.