AirLearn by Unacademy Co-Founders: A New Chapter in Edtech

AirLearn is the latest project by Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini, co-founders of Unacademy, as they move to exit the edtech giant in order to concentrate on their language learning application. This marks a rare occasion in which original co-founders of an Indian edtech unicorn are stepping away from their company. The third co-founder, Hemesh Singh, had previously exited in June of last year.

As reported first by The Economic Times, Sumit Jain, the co-founder of Unacademy’s subsidiary Graphy, is set to take over the leadership role. Jain became a part of Unacademy in 2020 following the acquisition of his startup Opentalk.

Focus on AirLearn’s Expansion

Both Munjal and Saini are dedicated to developing AirLearn, which has impressively achieved an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $400,000 in the U.S. within just a few months of its launch.

Unacademy Board Dynamics

The board of Unacademy includes members from SoftBank, General Atlantic, Bhavin Turakhia (Zeta), and Sujeet Kumar (Udaan), alongside co-founders Munjal and Saini. According to various sources from a startup data intelligence platform, the three original co-founders together held a 15% stake in Unacademy.

A Transition for Unacademy and Its Founders

The shift in leadership and the renewed focus on AirLearn signify an exciting new phase for both Unacademy and its founders. Recently, Munjal stated that Unacademy has successfully decreased its cash burn in the core business from over Rs 1,000 crore annually three years ago to below Rs 200 crore this year. Furthermore, he mentioned that Unacademy has Rs 1,200 crore in reserves and is currently in a stable financial state. Several of its entities, including Graphy and PrepLadder, are generating profits monthly.

Startup Superb has reached out for comments from Unacademy, as well as from Munjal and Saini.