India, March 19 -- Inside India's Edtech Duopoly

The Indian edtech sector is entering its consolidation era. Last week, upGrad signed a deal to acquire Unacademy after a year of stretched deliberations. This has become one of the most significant edtech moves after BYJU'S' $1 Bn acquisition of Aakash in 2021. Let's unpack the strategic logic behind the acquisition.  

upGrad Finds Its Missing Piece: The unicorn spent the past decade building an upskilling stack, but it has always lacked a serious K-12 and test prep engine. Acquiring Unacademy plugs that hole, giving upGrad a large footprint in the segment, minus the need to build the stack from scratch. Unacademy's $100 Mn cash reserves also help the edtech major cushion its IP...